Tutu sails into summer in Maine Thread #3

Well my timing isn't as perfect as I'd originally planned. I thought it would take me up until the end of June (2nd quarter) to make it to 75. But, I've already finished that challenge, so I'm starting again, and should probably do another 75 for the 2nd half + for 2012.

It's summer in Maine, and the only thing we have more of here than books are lobsters.....and buoys.... and boats....and lighthouses.....and sea breezes.....and don't I wish that this really were mine? It has my name on it, so why can't I have it? Guess I'll have to stick to books!!

Starting a new 75 batch means I get to refine the goals I established at the beginning of the year.
1. Continue to read in the US Presidents Challenge group. I added another one - Monroe, and have John Quincy Adams loaded up on the Nook. If I can get that one done, I'll be happy

2. Reading ARCs I always get more of these than I can handle, but I've quit asking for review books unless they are something I really want to read. Let's count on 3-4 /month.

3 Read biographies ---this genre (along with memoirs) is one of my favorites, and I'm hoping to read at least one bio/memoir per month. I've only read 3 (not counting the presidential bios) this year, but I have several sitting here on the TBR pile. Watch for 3 more.

4. I'' be reading lots of mysteries - no brainer.....my favorites. At least 3-5 each month.

5. I'm doing a lot more fiction and loving it.

6. Also since I'm a Maine librarian, albeit a transplant "from away", I'm trying to do more reading of some of our great Maine authors . These have been fun to discover, and I'll be adding more to the list.

7. Book clubs and group reads will provide some great reading. Our library has a monthly read, and I'm joining in Mark's group read of River of Smoke.

8. There'll be some miscellaneous non-fiction. These are always fun, because I love to read good history, culture, food, just to name a few

9. My only "challenge" is participating in a group called War Through the Generations where we'll be reading (fiction and non-fiction) focused on World War I. I already have over 14 stacked up to read in a variety of formats - audio, ebook, and good old fashioned print. This has been really interesting-- I've read 11 so far and plan at least another 6.

I think I have enough to keep me busy....

Here's the reading list for at least the third quarter of 2012 (with an early start )

1. Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri
2. An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd
3. World Without You by Joshua Henkin
4. Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
5. Still Life by Louise Penny
6, Slash and Burn by Colin Cotterill
7. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel also known as These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach
8. The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri
9. Jack 1939 by Francine Mathews
10. A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
11. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonsen
12. Faith Bass Darling's Last Garage Sale by Lynn Rutledge
13. That Woman by Anne Sebba
14. Killed at the Whim of a Hat by Colin Cotterill
15. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova
16. The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith
17. The Pigeon Pie Mystery by Julia Stuart
18. The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
19. Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland
20. Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen
21. Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
22. Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann
23. Scone Island: An Ike Schwartz Mystery by Frederick Ramsay
24. The Lifeboat: A Novel by Charlotte Rogan
25. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
26. The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
27. Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear
28. The House in Amalfi by Elizabeth Adler
29. A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny
30. Jana Bibi's Excellent Fortunes by Betsy Woodman
31. Poppy Done to Death by Charlaine Harris
32. Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo
33. The Parties Versus The People:How to Turn Republicans and Democrats into Americans by Mickey Edwards
34. More than Sorrow by Vicki Delany
35. The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
36. Heaven is High by Kate Wilhelm
37. Choker by Frederick Ramsay
38. Pocketful of Names by Joe Coomer
39. Track of Sand by Andrea Camilleri
40. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
41. The Jewels of Paradise by Donna Leon

I'm first my sister!

I think you should keep the boat since it has your name on it. Would anybody really care? :-)

What's with these whacky numbers? A ZERO???? Two number 4 but no number 3?????? I'm hoping this will re-index when I exit and then come back. This should be post #5.

#1 Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri


Another well-crafted plot in a gorgeous setting with one of the best cast of characters in detective fiction today. Montalbano and his crew are worth following in the series from the beginning. Camilleri gives us the soul of Sicily in robust but realistic dialogue, dazzling descriptions of food, and the temperament of a hardened detective who still appreciates opera, poetry, classical texts, the ocean breezes and a beautiful woman. Perhaps the best part for English readers is the wonderful translation by Stephen Sartarelli. The cadence of the language, the imagery and the emotions are all wonderfully preserved.

I think I actually read this one way back in 1999 because parts of it were quite familiar, but my brain is getting so foggy, that I actually couldn't remember whodunnit, so it was quite an enjoyable listen. I've been trying to catch up on the ones I was missing because, as we speak, I am downloading the brand new Montalbano Age of Doubt which was just released today in audio......whoot whooot....perfect listening for lazy summer afternoons of needlework. I may have to hold off a couple days. Hubbie loves these too and we have a couple 2 hour drives to make this week, so we can listen in the car together.

I love the picture of the boat! mrsdrneutron and I are planning to take some sailing classes when we get the son's college paid off. And I keep threatening to sell the house, cash in the retirement and disapper into the Caribbean with the mrsdrneutron. :)

#8 Well, who else would you do it with? Sounds like a great plan to me. We also keep thinking we'd like to learn to sail, but here in the big fat middle of the continent there aren't as many opportunities as you coastal folks have. But maybe someday.

Tina, that isn't your boat? It's got your name on it - isn't that proof of ownership?

No that one isn't my boat. This one is. Ours is sitting high and dry because

a) there's a crack at the seam of the mast (and Mr. Tutu hasn't taken the time to fix it) and

b) Our launch site (seen here through the trees) would require the construction of at least a 60 foot ramp to decsend from the 10 foot cliff and then a row in a skiff out to the central channel because the tide here is too low to float the boat in front of us. If you look closely, you can see the mud flats. We are at least 500 yds away from water that is deep enough 24/7 to float the boat.



Alternative is to hitch this baby to the back of the Jeep, drive it two miles to the town landing, launch it, and then rent a mooring for the summer. Still would require a "getting to it" rowboat or zipboat, or some such. Way too much trouble for too little fun.

Mr. Tutu just ran in to say there's a matinee downtown featuring "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"....I'm offf....will edit pic size later!

Oh....my dears.....That is one wonderful movie, and I just grabbed the book which you may find in the original These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach. The movie is fabulous and the book is delightful.... For all of us who are "of an age" this one is a hoot!! But then what on earth could one expect with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton just to mention a few. Do go see it, it will make your day.

And Dr.N @#8...if you're going to go sailing off into the sunset, where on earth are you going to put all those books? Or perhaps you're just going to put them all on an e-reader and hope by then they can be solar-powered.

Tina - love the photos, love the new thread, happy reading - I'll try to keep up better with the 2nd 75.

Paul ---thanks for stopping by. Summer is finally due to arrive starting tomorrow. We are sitting here tonite absolutely socked in by fog, but the weather guessers have promised us 7 straight days of temps in the high 70s with bright sun and no rain. How glorious. Must find some good sunglasses to read outside.

Hi, Tina! Nice thread you have here, with a great photo. Congrats on finishing the first 75, and getting such a good start on the next 75.

#2 An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd


Bess Crawford, daughter of an English Colonel, raised in India, now serving as a nurse in World War I, finds herself facing a dead body in a spot where it's not supposed to be, and on its way to be buried with no identification.  Dead bodies usually work well to start off a mystery, but just when she sees this body, she is stricken with a severe case of Spanish flu, becomes delirious and is shipped home to England.  When she awakens, she doesn't know if the body (she knows who the soldier was) was a dream, or if she really did see him dead.  How did he end up where she saw him?  Was he murdered, or did he really die from a war wound? 

Thus begins the fourth book in this enlightening and engaging mystery series. In each of them, Bess manages to find herself in the midst of mystery An Unmarked Grave is perhaps the most straightforward of the mysteries in the series, but it is by no means simplistic.  The author(s) continue to expand Bess's personality, enhance her relationship with Simon Brandon (will this develop into a romance in later books?), devise interesting and many layered plots, and provide us with views into the awfulness of War.  Their descriptions of battlefield casualty stations give us a realistic imagery of the horror of the carnage, while at the same time giving us a tribute to the courage of all those working under these unimaginable circumstances.  In addition, their depiction of the ravages of the Spanish Flu adding to the desolation caused by the war itself, serves to paint a realistic and devastating picture of the beginning of the twentieth century.

Sr. Crawford's snooping does at times require the reader to accept a character who is a bit more nosy than one might believe, who has a knack for finding trouble, and an unbelievable amount of luck in being able to call on her father and his aide-de-camp Simon to bail her out, but these escapades make for a well-written story that keeps us turning pages, and leaves us wanting more.  And that's my criteria for a ripping good read!

I've read all of these (there are now four in the series) and I'm not sure I'd recommend starting here if you haven't read any of the previous ones.  That said, the author has done a credible job of giving enough back-fill that it would probably work on its own. 

Author: Charles Todd
Publisher-Format: William Morrow (2012)
Subject: nursing, murder,
Setting: England and France during World War I - 1918
Series: Bess Crawford
Genre: murder mystery - amateur sleuth
Source: Review copy from the publisher for review and participation in TLC blog tour

#3 The World Without You by Joshua Henkin



The Blurb: 
It's July 4th, 2005, and the Frankel family is descending upon their beloved summer home in the Berkshires. But this is no ordinary holiday: the family is gathering for a memorial. Leo, the youngest of the four Frankel siblings and an intrepid journalist and adventurer, was killed one year ago while on assignment in Iraq. His parents, Marilyn and David, are adrift in grief, and it's tearing apart their forty-year marriage. Clarissa, the eldest, is struggling at thirty-nine with infertility. Lily, a fiery-tempered lawyer, is angry about everything. Noelle, a born-again Orthodox Jew (and the last person to see Leo alive), has come in from Israel with her husband and four children and feels entirely out of place. And Thisbe--Leo's widow and mother of their three-year-old son--has arrived from California bearing her own secret. Over the course of three days, the Frankels will contend with sibling rivalries and marital feuds, volatile women and silent men, and, ultimately, with the true meaning of family.

What I thought:

This one could have been a dreary, dragging soap-opera of a story.  Instead Joshua Henkin has given us an engrossing character study of a family torn apart by grief.  As the individuals come back to the scene of some of their happiest times together, they can't seem to let go of the unhappiness each one feels at losing their brother, husband, son.  Instead of reaching out to others for support, they seem to want to play the "my grief is worse than yours" game, and continue to pile their melancholy and inability to cope on each other.  At first I was angry at being subjected to all this grief, but then I began to see each person as an individual, and Henkin gives us wonderful back stories to allow us into the minds, hearts, and grievings of each member of the family, and helps us to see all the interactions, hopes and dreams  of yesterday as well as the disappointments and unmet expectations of today as we stumble through the three days with each family member.

When I finished I did wish the ending had been more crisp, but then realized that the author intended this to be as close to real life as possible, leaving his characters with some hope, some dread, some dreams, and at least the opportunity to work through the sorrow to a better future.

It's hopeful, graceful, sorrowful, damning and affirming all at once.  A great one for your summer reading pile, and one to return to again after it sits for awhile.  And it should be out today.  Enjoy.
  

Author: Joshua Henkin
Publisher-Format: Pantheon, e galley, 283 pages
Year of publication: 2012
Subject: Grief, family dynamics
Setting: Vacation home in the Berkshires
Genre: fiction
Source: publisher via Net Galley

#4 Packing for Mars and #5 Still Life

These are re-reads from 2009 and 2011. Our book discussion group at the library is going to be discussing Packing for Mars later this week, and I wanted to be sure I was up to date. This time I listened to it, and it's every bit as good as I remembered it, and every bit as wise-ass funny as Roach can be. My review is attached to the book, and if you haven't read Mary Roach, and are looking to expand your horizons with some really cool, great non-fiction, do try her.

And then I was so enthralled with Inspector Gamache last week in The Beautiful Mystery that I decided to go back and re-read all the Louise Penny's again. I started with Still Life and I loved it - had a much more positive reaction than I remember from the first time.

So.....it's Louise Penny.....It's damn wicked good fiction.....if you haven't read it, please run, don't walk to the nearest bookstore, library, e-reader download site, but get going. Life is so much richer with these characters in my mind.

Hi Tina! Happy summer, with or without the sailing. : ) I have Mars on my shelves, as well as Bonk and I think I am on number 3 in the Gamache series. Congrats on the second 75.

Kim ...LOL....I only wish I'd finished the second 75, so I'll assume your wishes are an encouragement to work toward that number. My daughter assures me that Bonk is even funnier than Packing for Mars so I'm anxious to get to it. really says something about a mother/daughter relationship when the daughter is recommending a book about sex to the mother!!

How come she never recommends books for her aunt?

Tina--I meant STARTING the second 75, since I will be lucky to even finish the first this year. : P And I love that you have that kind of a close relationship with your daughter. LOL

And C, I didn't realize you guys were related?!

Yes....Cheli (cyderry) and I are sisters. There are actually 4 of us: I'm the oldest and she's the youngest. #3 sister is also an LT member -traumatroller--but she doesn't yet participate in this chatty group.

Ah, so your other sister is the wise one then! LOL

I just discovered that Charles Todd is a mother/son team of writers Tina and that makes me want to read their books more than ever although the WWI England/France thing is certainly enough of a draw.

I've just finished The Voice of the Violin too, and really enjoyed it. I might have to succumb to a Kindle purchase of the next in the series soon... I have August Heat and The Paper Moon but not the books in between!

I'm blocking my ears and eyes at the Charles Todd review - I have so many series on the go already. But it looks really good.

Hello gawjuss just a fly-by to drop a *smooch* and recommend Lea Wait and her Shadows Down East mysteries. Shadows at the Fair is number one, and the place to start.

Lea Wait is quite popular in our little liberry here in coastal Maine. She is on my list of must reads. She's semi-local (that means she's not in my town but within a 25 mile radius) and she and a host of talented Maine Crime writers are always treating us to fun events.

She's fun to follow on FB, too!

#6 Slash and Burn


In this latest adventure of the ever-entertaining Dr. Siri Paiboun, national coroner of Laos, the good doctor is "chosen" by the party leaders to accompany his nemesis Judge Haeng as members of a multi-national team going to a remote site in Thailand to find out what actually happened when the son of a US Senator crashed his helo in this unknown village. There are varying versions of how the aviator came to be in the area where his helicopter crashed, and how the chopper wreckage was discovered.  The task now is to find out if the pilot is dead (no human remains have been found), locate the body, or determine what actually happened to him.  To add to the mix, Cotterill gives us a stereotypical pompous US politician in white suit who wants to pop in for a photo op whenever they find the body he is convinced is at the site.

There are the usual and always entertaining contretemps between the Laos, the Vietnamese, the Chinese, the Americans, but I think this one is the best of the series.  The mystery is much more developed and coherently unveiled, the characters by now have reached a maturity that enables the reader to concentrate on the person instead of the quirks, although there are several new players who definitely contribute to the story's charm as well as the plot's intricacy.  The young interpreter "Peach Short" is a definite addition and I hope if the series continues that Cotterill can find a way to include her in future adventures.

As the story unfolds, and the clues are revealed, the mystery becomes more involved. The history of the US "non-involvment" in the area during the Vietnam Conflict is well handled and, as with all the previous stories in the series, quite educational.   The ending is well developed, thrilling and unexpected, once again leaving the reader wondering if Dr. Siri will continue to offer his skills to his country, or if somehow, somewhere, he'll be allowed to retire and relax to sip whiskey with his friend Civilai by the side of the river before going home to Madame Deung and her wonderful noodles.

Slash and Burn: A Dr. Siri Mystery Set in Laos 

Author: Colin Cotterill
Publisher-Format: Soho Crime Hardcover, 290 pages
  audio by Blackstone Audio, 8 hours, 11 minutes
Year of publication: 2011
Narrator: Clive Chafer
Subject: recovering remains of Vietnam War MIAs in Thailand
Setting: Laos and Thailand
Series: Dr. Siri Paiboun
Genre: mystery, forensicsd
Source: public library download

YAY! Good review!

RD....somehow I can just picture you and the good Dr. Siri sharing a wee dram or two but it would have to be inside the freezer due to the hot weather.

Heh! There's an image to treasure!

#7 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
  (Random House Movie Tie-In Books)
      - originally published as These Foolish Things



I don't go to many movies- we might watch one movie a month at home, but generally only grace the local theater once a year. Judi Dench and Maggie Smith together were enough of a draw for us to attend the afternoon matinee last week to see "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" - a marvelous, well-acted, uproariously funny movie that showed us the best and the worst of aging. It was so well done, and so enjoyable that I immediately went on the hunt for Deborah Maggoch's original novel that was the basis for the screenplay. It was not easy to find, but I did locate it for my Kindle, and had an even more enjoyable experience reading the novel.

The story basically portrays the lives and losses of a group of English elders: widows and widowers, divorcees, singles, and a well-traveled couple. For various reasons, most of them economic, these folk have decided (or their less than caring off-spring decided for them) that they can no longer afford to stay in Merry Old England, and accept the offer to move to a new retirement community in India (well after all, they speak English there!) billed as the Best EXOTIC Marigold Hotel.

The Marigold can best be described as a dowager empress....good bone structure, but the skin is sagging, and the bones are creaking. Each of the emigrees brings a unique set of expectations, and is dealing with singular losses. How they handle the enormous changes and adapt themselves to a new culture, new food, lack of the plumbing, transportation, and energy standards to which they were accustomed at home, is portrayed with empathy, gentleness and wonderful respect for aging human beings. They eventually form a family unit as they muddle their way through their unexpected difficulties, and expand that family to include new friends from the Indian community.

It's a lovely book, an affirming story that helps us realize that "we're not getting older, we're getting better" and that the model of a society where all the generations live together and the elderly are esteemed and cared for is one much to be coveted.

Do go see the movie if you have a chance, and read the book too. They're different enough that one doesn't impinge on the other. They are distinct and delightful.

Author: Deborah Moggach
Publisher-Format: Random House Digital, Inc. - Kindle edition, 337 pages
Year of publication: 2012
Subject:  aging gracefully
Setting: England and Bangalore India
Genre: fiction
Source: Amazon - I bought it.

Reinforces my desire to see the film...never knew there was a book, someone's marketing department is asleep at the switch.

I'm in need of some aging gracefully models. I'm off to order the Kindle version, right now. Even though I am on a self imposed book diet. This book is probably classified as survival food.

As we used to say in the Navy, I'm off the net for a few days doing a huge editing job.....more (maybe) later. In the meantime, everybody enjoy your holiday week, weekend, music, fireworks, cookouts, etc.

Hi Tina, I thought Best Exotic was a wonderful movie! I'm glad you liked it, too. I'm also happy to see that the book is good as I have it here but haven't read it because I was afraid to read it too soon after seeing the movie. I think the original title was better though (These Foolish Things).

It looks as though I have a few new series to get going on, the Charles Todd and Montalbalo.

Boats, power boats at least....more trouble than they're worth...just sayin'... I also think if someone put your name on a boat, they should at least let you take it out now and then. :)

I so rarely get to the movies, that I don't know that I'll ever get to see it. But my library has 2 copies, and I'm on the (13+) reserve list!

Hi Tina! Bye Tina! *Waves*

#8 The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri



Salvo Montalbano is now 58 years old and beginning to wonder if he's going to live to be 59.  Bones creak, he forgets things, and his wonderfully irascible personality is becoming even more crusty.  In this 14th episode of Camilleri's amusing, entertaining and well-written series about crime in Sicily, Salvo finds himself totally head over heels enamored (he would never admit to LOVE!!!) of a young naval lieutenant as they work together to solve the murder of a washed up body.  In addition, there's a huge and luxurious pleasure yacht tied up at the town pier with an elegant and notoriously promiscuous owner aboard and Montalbano smells a rat.  The crime solving evolves with the usual antics from Fazzio, Catarella, Mimi Auguello, and the gang.  Several times, the Inspector even takes exceptional  risks that appear somewhat out of character.  His temper often gets the better of him, and he's not having much luck with the famous Sicilian cuisine either. 
The missing link in this one is Livia. Although by now, readers of the series are becoming used to her cameo appearances by phone from Genoa, they are few and far between in this one.  Salvo spends a lot of time and energy on his new infatuation, and Livia looks like she's going to get short shrift.

NO SPOILERS......you'll have to read this one on your own.  Like all the books in this series, it is a quick enjoyable, well-crafted mystery with a carefully developed cast of characters, a heavenly setting, and plots that keep us guessing.  The translations by Steven Sartarelli are spot on, evoking all the passion and nuance of the original Italian. The audios of this series are incredibly fun listening.  I've gotten through many a water-aerobics session painlessly because I had these enjoyable stories to accompany me.

Author: Andrea Camilleri
Translated by: Steven Sartarelli
Publisher-Format: New York, N.Y. : Penguin Books, 2012.
  audio: Blackstone Audio, 5 hrs, 22 minutes
Narrator: Grover Gardner
Subject: crime, murder, mid-life crisis
Setting: Sicily
Series: Inspector Montalbano
Genre: police procedural
Source: public library audio download

#9 Jack 1939 by Francine Mathews



In 1939, the US had no spy service, no CIA, and had to rely on the intuition of its leaders along with unofficial reports on the actions of world leaders and governments for the nation's security.  As Europe ground inexorably toward another war in 1939, President Roosevelt needed to get information quickly, quietly, and completely outside State department channels.  At the same time, Jack Kennedy, son of the US Ambassador to the Court of St. James (England) was planning to spend the summer and a semester touring Europe doing research for his senior thesis at Harvard.

Roosevelt asks Kennedy to act as his eyes and ears in Europe to find out what he can about Hitler's plans to take over Europe.  He gives the young man a secret Morse Code radio (and a quick training course in how to use it) and sends him off with instructions to tell no one (particularly not his father) about his mission.

This could so easily have been a disastrous hollywood pulp novel throw away, but Mathews instead gives us a rip-roaring page-turner. She mixes well-researched facts into a credible but fictional scenario that keeps the reader's attention from start to finish.  It's a quick read, not because it's shallow (it's NOT), but because the reader simply cannot put this down.  There is romance, espionage, personal glimpses of the Kennedy family, a quick tour of major cities of Europe,  a thorough explanation of Kennedy's now well-known health problems, and throughout it all, a clear sense of the urgency felt by the nations of the world who watched their paralyzed leadership as Hitler went unchallenged in his march toward world dominance. The author's suggestion about the dichotomy of  Kennedy's beliefs vs those of his father is central to the plot.  Kennedy's chase through European capitals, in pursuit of FDR's needed information is a thrilling read, as good as many mysteries on the shelves these days.

Publisher-Format: New York, Riverhead Books, 2012, e-galley, 370 pages
Subject:  espionage, politics
Setting: London, eastern Europe summer 1939
Genre: historical fiction/suspense mystery
Source: e-galley from publisher via Net Galley

About the Author:
Francine Mathews, who also writes as Stephanie Barron, is the author of twenty novels of mystery, history, and suspense. A graduate of Princeton and Stanford, she spent four years as an intelligence analyst at the CIA, and presently lives and works in Colorado.

Re-Reads:

#10 A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
and #11 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonsen

Both of these are re-reads. Our book group at my library is doing Major Pettigrew and I figured since I have to lead the discussion, I'd better review it. It was over 2 years ago that I finished it. I found a lot I didn't remember from the first time through, so it is safe to say I enjoyed it even more this time than the first. It's such a well-written story, and I just fell in love with the Major all over again. If you haven't read this one, what on earth are you waiting for?

The Louise Penny book is #2 in her Chief Inspector Gamache series. I've read them all but just couldn't wait for more to come out so I started them over. That's been so much fun! I've never been someone who re-reads many books, but when you get ones that you love, it's often a great surprise to find some little detail you missed before or stop and revisit a favorite scene or phrase. I know I'll never go wrong with Ms. Penny.

Thank you for the tip to read These Foolish Things. I very much enjoyed the book and will seek out the movie!

Jack has me hooked! I have read the last two and don't need another mystery series at the moment, so I get away with only 1 new TBR. Phew! Nice reveiws. Thanks.

Slurpsome reviews, Miss Tina! I've got them all on WL already, but am now plotting the swift, painless demises of the patrons ahead of me for Jack 1939.

Both of those re-reads were worthwhile. I'm way behind on Camilleri's books so it will be awhile before I get to it. Hopefully it will be on TN Reads by then.

Source: Uploaded by user via Random House Books on Pinterest

Well, darlings, I'm still not saying too much yet (it's like the 7th inning of a no-hitter) but I've been quite wrapped up helping a special friend with edits on what has turned out to be pretty decent book. We're in negotiations for publication but no firm date yet. I'll make a grand announcement after it gets published (probably on my blog but that will be up to the publicist). In the meantime, I'll not recommend this as a project for married couples unless their marriage is VERY STRONG.

I'm revamping my reading plans for the time being, because suddenly nothing is appealing to me. I may just take an entire week off from reading, listening, nooking and kindling and go work in the garden, and spazz on the beach.

Enjoy your summer....

Good luck on the book. In a strong marriage, any big project undertaken by one person becomes a joint project at some level - when something is important to one, it is important to the other as well. Looking forward to the big announcement.

To read, or not to read? 'Course spazzing on the beach has its own appeal. Have fun whatever you do!

#12 Faith Bass Darling's Last Garage Sale



I haven't enjoyed reading a book this much in months.  It's almost a shame to have to write a review, but it certainly deserves to be shared and trumpeted. It was my February ER book, and I'm almost ashamed it took me so long to get to it. It's a terrific, fun, satisfying read.

On December 31, 1999 God tells Faith Bass Darling, the richest woman in Bass Texas, to sell everything she owns, including her 40 priceless Tiffany lamps, because this is her last day on earth.  Faith hasn't always paid much attention to the almighty, but since there's been a lot of hoopla and worry about the New Millenium coming tonite, she decides she'd better follow directions.  Faith's Alzheimer's has led her to become more and more recluse --she hasn't left her mansion in almost 20 years; more and more forgetful -- she has a mantra she repeats constantly to prove to herself that she still knows who she is, where she is and what day it is; and she's completely lost contact with her daughter, her only living relative.  So when she begins hauling out her priceless antiques from the family's century old collection and selling them for pennies, the word spreads faster than melted butter on hot corn.

The local sheriff (a football teammate of her deceased son) and the area's premier antique dealer (a childhood friend of her daughter's) both  try to convince Faith that this yard sale isn't really a good idea.  The family dynamics and memories that are stirred up when the daughter arrives make this much more than the farce it could have been.

Lynn Rutledge, in her debut novel, has given us a gift.  Readers are introduced to a gentle, complex lady clinging desperately to the threads of her memories, who has just enough rationality left to understand that her "stuff" doesn't matter-- it's not what makes her happy or unhappy, it can't bring back her son, and it obviously can't keep her from losing her memories, and ultimately her life.

The other characters are equally as well drawn, complex, and just plain likeable.  As a reader, you are immediately drawn to all of them; you cry with them, you laugh with them, and you find yourself wanting to help in anyway you can to make life better.   The story plays out in only one day, with a beautifully written ending that leaves the reader wanting more, knowing it won't happen, and ultimately being satisfied with how the New Year begins. This story is a delight.  Let's hope that Ms. Rutledge has more treats like this one in her future.

Author: Lynda Rutledge
Publisher-Format: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam  Hardcover, 304 pages 
Year of Publication: 2012
Subject: Old age, dementia, family relations
Setting: Bass Texas, December 31, 1999
Genre: Fiction
Source: ARC from publisher through LibraryThing.com Early Reviewers program

I have the upgethumbing performed. You I am thanking for the reviewing.

Please bring for me next month.

RD - are you drunk??? Or has the heat just really gotten to you darling? So glad you stopped by tho---stayed tuned --- a couple more are coming up.

I'm sitting here at almost midnite watching a hoot of a PBS special on Harlequin bodice rippers showing women from all walks of life in a variety of countries reacting to the stud muffins on the covers, and then reading us salacious selections ......It's got us both howling with laughter, and it's making it a tad difficult to get these reviews accomplished.

#52 Cheli.....MRC has and will pass on to you when she's done.

#13 That Woman


Author: Anne Sebba
Publisher-Format: Orion Publishing Group (2012), Paperback, 384 pages
Subject: Life of Wallis Warfield Simpson
Setting: various
Genre: biography
Source: public library


Wallis Warfield (better known as the Duchess of Windsor) hailed from Baltimore, my home town.  World famous as the twice divorced woman who captured the heart of the King of England, she is a person whose life has never made much sense to me, and who is often held up to much scorn and criticism.  Of course every young girl who hears the story about a King giving up his throne to marry "the woman I love" at first must think this is a romantic fairy tale. It isn't.  It's a tragedy.

In this latest biography of the Duchess, Anne Sebba tries to present both The Duke (ex-king Edward ) and his Duchess as two persons whose personality disorders (nowhere documented) drove them to act as they did and  meant that they were perfect for each other.  The author's positing of strange sexual dysfunctions for both of them adds nothing to the already well-known tale, and serves only to make the story more unbelievable.  She succeeds only in reinforcing my perception that they were each selfish, infantile, and insecure to a degree that they could never have functioned as adults in the tumultuous world in which they lived. 

A total waste of time, and a sad, sad, story.

Am I getting Alzheimer's/oldtimer's disease???? Is this the oe we talked about earlier?

Theirs really was a tale of like finding like, and thank GOODNESS he wasn't king during WWII! Horrid thought.

*smooch*

*hic*

#14 Killed at the Whim of a Hat


I definitely enjoyed Colin Cotterill's first series, the Dr. Siri Paiboun mysteries, so I was prepared to be as delighted by this new protagonist Jimm Juree, a crime reporter wannabe, whose mother relocates the family from a big city to the boondocks.  My hopes may have been set too high.

Cotterill gives us a quirky cast of characters: Grandpa, a retired traffic cop; Siss, the transgendered beauty queen who used to be her brother, and who now runs a dubious online company; a rather addled mother who tries to relocate the entire family from a bustling city to a rural nowhere because there's a nice place to live; and a body-building baby brother who tries in vain to keep Jimm on the moral high road. I'm going to have to reserve judgement on them ...they just didn't do enough for me (except for Grandpa) to make me jump for joy and say "WOW- he's done it again!"  There is certainly plenty of room to develop this new group of loonies.  The setting, modern day Thailand, also needs much more filling out.

Cotterill delights us with quotes from George W. Bush as openers for each chapter, beginning with

Families is where our nation finds hope.  Where wings take dream. 

 George W Bush LaCrosse Wisc 10/18/2000

 And ending with

Rarely is the question asked: "Is our children learning?"  

George W Bush  Florence SC 2/1/2000

At first we scratch our head, trying to figure out what they have to do with anything.  Later we are given the explanation of why "W" is featured, but I won't spoil it for you.  It isn't until the beginning of Chapter 8 that we get some inkling about the title of the book:

"Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat."
George W. Bush Washington DC, 17 September 2004

There are three crimes Jimm is trying to report on (solve?)--two skeletons found buried in a VW van, a dead dog (poisoned? by whom?) and a brutally murdered monk.   These three stories were quite disjointed, and I kept wondering if they were related, if they were crimes at all, and what they had to do with the story at any given time.  At least there is a really fun "fairy" police officer who helps Jimm sort things out.

I just received the second in this series as an audio from the ER program.  Based on Cotterill's reputation, and my previous enjoyment of his stories, I'm willing to give this series room to grow, but I'm not going to go much past #2 unless I can get a better feel for this cast of characters, more Thai culture and history, and a less disjointed plot. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best, so that maybe, as GWB says at the beginning of Chapter 13

They misunderestimated me.

 George W Bush Bentonville AK 11/6/2000

Author: Colin Cotterill
Publisher-Format: Minotaur Books (2011), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover, 384 pages
Subject: Murder, crime reporting
Setting: Southern Thailand
Series: Jimm Juree
Genre: murder mystery, investigative reporter
Source: public library

Thank you for including the Bush quotations. Gave me reason to smile this morning.

I was underwhelmed, as well, but unlike your generous soul, I ain't movin' on to #2.

RD....I suspect that had I not been the (un)fortunate recipient of #2 as an ER goodie, I too would be passing. I'll give it the old college try and then foist the audio off on some poor liberry that could use boost to its audio collection. ( or maybe some 75er who desperately loves the series????)

I'm trying now to collect my thoughts after finishing the emotionally exhaustive Left Neglected -- a book that hit close to home (one of my liberry patrons is suffering from just this afflication following a stroke). will post on that one soon.

I find I am just spending a whole lotta time looking forward to our first real FAMILY vacation in years (a week in Ocean City MD) first week in August. I'm almost afraid to set expectations too high....figure this could turn out to be the giant Thanksgiving Dinner emotional blowout--4 generations, varying life styles, a panoply of picky eaters, internet junkies in withdrawal etc etc.......SEE .....I'm already spazzing and we don't even leave Maine until August 1st.

It sounds like you need to build in some 'disappearing time' expectations to keep everything smooth!

Tina - if you liked Faith Bass Darling's Last Garage Sale so much, I guess I'm going to have to check it out. I ordered it for the library's lease book program so I don't have an excuse not to check it out. It won't be right away since I don't have to go back to work until August 15, but I'll get to it!

>61 tututhefirst: Judy speaketh sooth, dear Tina. Must firmly ink in Tina Time spent with no one but Tina, even if it's an hour.

I've added my thumb to Richard's up gethumbing of your review of Bass Darling's. Sounds like a winner! Sorry the new Cotterill series isn't so great.

I look forward to your thoughts about Left Neglected.

Tina, I'm currently reading Edward VIII by Frances Donaldson. What a pair! He was cute, but what a nutcase! And she was..well, let's just say another nutcase. I agree with Richard (I seem to be doing that a lot tonight. Perhaps I should check for fever?)--you almost have to believe in a God who kept him off the throne. Maybe there wouldn't have been a WWII--the world would be a very different place today....

I very much enjoyed Left Neglected. I was a neuroscience major so I was interested in both the viewpoint of the person going through this struggle as well as the medical insights in this book. Did you like it? I am sorry you know someone dealing with this. And, dang, I was hoping That Woman would be better. I know nothing about her or her husband. For an ignoramus like me, is it still not worth reading?

Kim...I think if you know nothing about the Windsors, I'd start with Edward VIII that Terri is reading. I also paged through an interesting book last week that was a collection of their letters - Wallis and Edward: Letters 1931-1937 it gives a good original source flavor of each of their personalities and motivations. Also there is The Heart has its Reasons - the Duchess' memoir, and The King's Story: the memoirs of the Duke of Windsor. I don't know enough about any of these to make a recommendation....maybe someone else wants to pile on?

Hi Tina- Sorry, to hear about the new Cotterill series. A few other LTers have been disappointed too! That's just hard to believe, with how well he handled the Dr. Siri books.

Hi Tina

Sorry for the delay in visiting your thread. How I envy your Maine summer.

All the best to you!

Welcome one and all....summer in Maine is indeed here, and it is certainly much cooler and more pleasant than what many of you are experiencing in other parts of the country. It has been an exceptionally warm, muggy summer for us tho, and considering that most of us don't have AC, it has been quite uncomfortable, although for only short periods of time. We usually manage a sea breeze late in the afternoon that allows us to open up the house, cool it down. In the AM, we close the house up, keep the ceiling fans on and stay inside or go to the beach (or the gazebo) unless and until a breeze comes up.

I know . wah wah wah. Actually, I'm serving cheese with the Whine....in the gazebo.....be there!

Muggy day, but great discussion of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand at our book club. The group continues to grow and we are settling down to be comfortable with each other. One of our new members grew up in the area of England where the story was set. Her insights about how the country was and is dealing with assimilation of people from all parts of the empire added a lot to our perceptions.

I also just finished another in the No. 1 Ladies Detective agency series - The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection. Review coming when I can get to it.

Hi Tina--Thanks for the suggestions and tell me how the No 1 Detection book is. I think I am on number 6 or so, and I kinda got sick of them. (I read them all in a row...) If it is good, maybe I am ready again.

Kim...I enjoyed this latest No1 Detection Book....but then I love the whole series. I've decided I'm going to take another go at the 44 Scotland Rd series somewhere down the road because I did really enjoy the little boy Bertie, and I see he has his own book. McCall Smith's writing is SO different from the clipped, comma'd prose we're getting from "modern" writers that I actually find it quite relaxing--returns me to a gentler time when people had manners, they knew how to construct a complex sentence without ending up in Timbuctoo, and there was a distinct lack of gory gratuitous violence.

yeah, yeah, I know I still need to post a review....later....later....the day is too glorious for such academic stuff...I'm off to the gazebo to wallow in Beloved Captain - a Nantucket ghost/love story. It's a review/"we'll see...." copy....not normally my genre, but the publicist was quite insistent I'd love it.

Oh my...........I am ROFLMAO over this one. I was just checking my Facebook page and this link from my "other daughter" (my daughter's bestest friend and my bestest friend's daughter) just absolutely tickled me....

http://deadspin.com/5924827/american-baby-names-are-somehow-getting-even-worse

My mom once worked as a volunteer in an inner=city hospital helping young mothers fill out the forms for their baby's birth certificates. She still moans at the woman who insisted that her daughter be named Siphyliss (with the emphasis on the 2nd syllable). Mom tried gently to point out that the name had an altogether different meaning, but the woman kept exclaiming "No, no..it's so purty....I want that name." And so she got what she asked for...... My mom shortly after that decided there had to be other volunteer opportunities, so she left to become a Girl Scout cookie drive chairman.

It almost has nothing to do with reading, except IT DOES!!! I'm thoroughly convinced that the reason these poor children are being saddled with these labels is that their parents' reading is limited to labels on bottles, TV commercials, and PEOPLE magazine. Good Grief......I'm really off to the Gazebo....

I totally agree about the nice pace of the Detection Agency books. It is comforting and sweet. Yup. I think I have to find the next one in the series!

And ROFL with the name! Poor kid.

I may have to give the Detection Agency series another try at some point, but I just didn't enjoy the one that I tried to read years ago. African settings just don't appeal to me as much as they do to some people. I think it may be because snakes always seem to be encountered.

Oh, Tina, thank you for the link to that baby name article! I laughed out loud and scared my co-workers.

New grandbaby on the way for me due in February. I sent the link for the baby name article to them and ask, begged, plead for a regular name! LOL

>75 tututhefirst: The people who choose these names fail to consider that their child will grow up and one day be faced with with trying to get clients to in the law office to accept that their attorney is Mr. Sketch Smith.

*smooch* and *chuckle*

Or spelled weirdly: my niece is burdened with this - Schelie - because her Mother, bless her heart, did not want an ordinary name, like Shelly. Or Michelle. sigh

The saving grace of all this is that when the child is old enough to either put a foot down or go to court, the child can choose his or her own first name. I know a woman who was named Dawn Carol. Of course, this was half a century ago; it - doesn't seem so pretentious now to be named Dawn. But her parents were pretentious in that way, and as soon as she was on her own, she started using Carol.

I wouldn't be surprised if your niece, filling out the endless forms we all do through life, decided to clean up her spelling at some point.

Maggie, I purposely changed my name officially even though it has a "strange" spelling. My birth name was Michèle but I never felt comfortable with that name so when I went off to college, I started calling myself Chèli. With all the security issues after 9/11, it was hard to get on a flight if I didn't use "Michèle" but my credit cards were all with Chèli so as a gift to myself I legally changed my name when I turned 50. I like having a unique spelling - people will always have spelling issues, so don't worry about it.

I laughed at some of the names. A couple of them, I didn't think were so bad . . . mind you, my own son's name is straight out of the Bible, no spelling enhancements or apostrophes or anything.

#15 Left Neglected
Ever since I read Lisa Genova's saga of an Alzheimer's victim, "Still Alice", I've been anxious to get to this one.  Although written as fiction, the story of this more common than we realize neurological condition known as "Left Neglect" is compelling, frightening, encouraging, discouraging, depressing, and uplifting all at once.

The main character, Sara Nickerson, is portrayed as an over-achieving, multi-tasking, high powered executive, mother of three who thinks she can have it all--and almost does, until a momentary lapse of judgement (trying to dial a cell-phone while barreling along a crowded turnpike at 70mph) results in a horrific accident, and a traumatic brain injury.  When she awakes in the hospital, she is confronted with the fact that the entire left side of her experience is missing.  She can't see on her left, she can't use her left arm or leg, she can't hear on her left--in essence, she is missing half her reality.  She can't dress, bath or toilet herself, she can't read, she can't use a computer, she can't walk, she can't feed herself, and the outlook is less than optimistic for a full recovery.

For about 60% of this book, I wanted to smack this woman.  She is obnoxious, arrogant, demanding, selfish, and totally unlikable.  But..............she is suffering an incredible challenge, and an almost impossible obstacle course to recover her previous life, so I continued reading, praying for a change of heart. On top of the physical issues she had to deal with, she is confronted with having her mother moving in to her household to help out with day to day chores, with her daughter's physical needs (dressing, bathing, moving etc) and with childcare - particularly for the toddler. Apparently, Sara has not been on speaking terms with her mother for most of her adult life, and the psychic energy she must expend on re-building (or tearing down) that relationship is an additional trauma to her system.  On top of everything, the family has to face a precipitous drop in its very affluent life-style if Sara is unable to return to work.

Genova has given us a powerful portrayal of the physical, mental, psychological and spiritual challenges of this type of injury --not just to the victim, but to the family and friends who also are impacted by its devastation.  In the end, it is a story of the power of the human spirit to rise above adversity and get on with life.   It is a story that will stick with the reader for years.

And I promise, I'll never use a hands-on cell-phone while driving.

Author:  Lisa Genova
Publisher-Format: Gallery Books (2011), Paperback, 352 pages
audio by Simon and Schuster, 9 hr, 15 min
Narrator: Sarah Paulson
Subject: neurological damage from traumatic brain injury
Setting: Massachusetts, Vermont
Genre: fiction
Source: public library

#16 The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection


Another wonderfully gentle and entertaining episode in the lives of Mma Precious Ramotswe, Mma Grace Makutsi, Mma Silvia Potokwane, Phuti Radiphuti, and the rest of the colorful, gracious and sometimes nefarious characters we've come to know and love in this series about life in Botswana.

Those of you familiar with the series may think there's nothing new that can possibly to added to the adventures of the employees of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and their families, but the appearance of the hero of the ladies' endeavors, Clovis Anderson himself (author of the bible of private detection) and three separate problems makes this one a fresh and exciting read.  Grace and Phuti are building a house, Mma Potkwane is trying to keep from being fired as director of the orphans' home, and Mma Ramotswe is trying to prove that one of Mr. J.L.B. Matekone's workers does not deserve to be in jail.  With Mr. Anderson's help, they are able to bring everything to a suitable Botswana conclusion.

These are well-written, classically crafted stories.  The mysteries are almost an afterthought.  McCall-Smith gives us characters who are so human, so devoted to goodness that they could become saccharine.  Instead, the author allows them to make mistakes, become depressed and discouraged, and exhibit some pompous behavior that could be hurtful to others.  Through it all, their dedication to maintaining the "Botswana way of life" brings us not just a good ending, but a feeling of wanting more.  If you haven't yet been to the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, grab one of these tranquil tellings of stimulating mystery stories and settle back for a feel good read.

Author:  Alexander McCall Smith
Publisher-Format: Pantheon (2012), e-book, 204 pages
Subject: private detection
Setting: Botswana Africa
Series: No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency #13
Genre: cozy mystery - private detectives
Source: public library download

I have right neglect, but at least I learned to adjust at an early age, with the help of a wonderful sister like you.

Glad to know that you are smart enough to recognize the need to never use a hands-on cell-phone while driving.

Tina
It would be wonderful to meet you. As you know, I had such a lovely time with Cheli.

Ok....it's going to be a very skanty August. I'm an Olympics junkie, and I'm heading out in three days to spend two weeks with family in Washington, Ocean City MD, and Baltimore. Not much change for internet, and I'm really debating whether I'm even going to take my laptop, or just keep in touch via smartphone.

Enjoy all. enjoy the pageantry of British extravagance.

#17 (#92 for the year) The Pigeon Pie Mystery


Quirky, idiosyncratic, individual, peculiar, unusual, odd, strange, eccentric, unpredictable, distinctive, unconventional, weird, comical, bizarre, outlandish, wacky.  And that only describes the cast of characters.  Julia Stuart is a comic genius.  She gives us a list of characters so radically different and strange, and bizarre, and etc., etc., etc., that you have to plan an extra half hour just to get control of the tears of laughter rolling down your cheeks.

Here's Doubleday's blurb: When Indian Princess Alexandrina is left penniless by the sudden death of her father, the Maharaja of Brindor, Queen Victoria grants her a grace-and-favor home in Hampton Court Palace. Though rumored to be haunted, Alexandrina and her lady's maid, Pooki, have no choice but to take the Queen up on her offer.

Aside from the ghost sightings, Hampton Court doesn't seem so bad. The princess is soon befriended by three eccentric widows who invite her to a picnic with all the palace's inhabitants, for which Pooki bakes a pigeon pie. But when General-Major Bagshot dies after eating said pie, and the coroner finds traces of arsenic in his body, Pooki becomes the #1 suspect in a murder investigation.

Princess Alexandrina isn't about to let her faithful servant hang. She begins an investigation of her own, and discovers that Hampton Court isn't such a safe place to live after all. With her trademark wit and charm, Julia Stuart introduces us to an outstanding cast of lovable oddballs as she guides us through the many delightful twists and turns in this fun and quirky murder mystery. Everyone is hiding a secret of the heart, and even Alexandrina may not realize when she's caught in a maze of love.

My take: Intertwined with the personalities, Stuart gives us a pleasant, cozy, but well-crafted mystery.  It can't actually be described as a murder mystery, because the question is actually whether or not the deceased was murdered.  Once that part is decided, the search must shift to who-dunnit?  Did the Doctor who signed the death certificate make a mistake?  Is the homeopath (whom many regard as a quack) able to shed any light on the subject?  Did the good General (IS he a "good" General?) really die from ingesting a Pigeon Pie? 

Not only do we get a good dose of wonderful characters, and a mind tickling mystery, we get some history, some culture, and a wonderful view of the vast British empire, it's class structure, and its polyglot population.  A thoroughly enjoyable read.

The ending is especially delightful as Stuart seems to be leaving an opening for a series.  Princess Alexandrina as a private detective?  I'd love to see that happen.  There is certainly enough here in setting, characters and opportunities for nefarious activity to be able to support several more in a series.

I'm running a contest on my blog to win a copy from Doubleday.Hop on over. It's a wonderful summer afternoon read, or a great book to jump-start a return from a reading funk, or a pick-me-up for someone under the weather.  It's absolutely delicious. and much better than her first one, The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise. Don't miss it.

Author: Julia Stuart
Publisher-Format: Doubleday, ARC, 330 pages
Year of publication: 2012
Subject: suspicous death and who's responsible
Setting: Hampton Court Palace, London, 1898
Series: DARE WE HOPE?
Genre: mystery, amateur sleuth
Source: ARC from the publisher.

Many thanks to Doubleday books for providing a review copy.

#18 (93 for the year) The Chaperone

From the publisher: Only a few years before becoming a famous actress,  fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita to make it big in NY. Much to her annoyance, she is accompanied by a thirty-six-year-old chaperone who is neither mother nor friend. Cora Carlisle is a complicated but traditional woman with her own reasons for making the trip. She has no idea what she's in store for: Young Louise, already stunningly beautiful and sporting her famous black bob and bangs, is known for her lack of respect for convention. Ultimately, the five weeks they spend together will change their lives forever. For Cora, NY holds the promise of self-discovery, and even as she does her best to watch Louise in a strange and bustling city, she embarks on her own mission. While what she finds isn't what she anticipated, it liberates her in a way she could not have imagined. Over the course of the summer, Cora's eyes are opened to the promise of the twentieth century and a new understanding of the possibilities for being fully alive.

A wonderful surprise!  I think I expected this book to be about the famous Flapper, Louise Brooks. But this novel is much more complex than the publisher's blurb would lead us to believe. The parallel stories of Cora and Louise go only through the first part of the book.  After that first five weeks together in New York, their paths split, and the story becomes Cora's.  Her role as chaperone serves only to provide the beginnings of a transformation that will continue throughout her life.  Louise continues to appear, but only in cameo roles.

After her return to Witchita, the life changing events Cora endures (often unexpected) and her ability to adopt to them is affirming, both for herself and her family.  The variety of relationships, of changing social and cultural mores of the Roaring Twenties and pre-war era all serve as opportunities for growth, showing us a strong woman willing to take chances, often willing to defy society, while at the same time able to operate inside the structure of the accepted woman's role.

It's difficult to talk about everything that happens without spoiling an outstanding story.  Moriarty gives us in excruciating detail the life of an upper-middle class woman of the era, as well as the changes bombarding her from the social, financial, medical, political, and religious circles in which she moved.  It's a compelling story, and one that is sure to engage both women and men of all ages.

I listened to this one in audio, and while I normally enjoy this format, I did find the Kansas accent adapted by the narrator Elizabeth McGovern a bit off-putting.  I don't think I realized that Kansans have that strong a a twang. Other than that small nit-pick however, it was an enjoyable story, a well-told narration, and a book that deserves a good look by many many readers.

Author: Laura Moriarty
Publisher-Format: Penguin Group Audio; 13 hours, 15 minutes
Narrator: Elizabeth McGovern
Year of publication: 2012
Subject: women's roles
Setting: Witchita Kansas, New York City
Genre: Historical fiction,
Source: public library download

The Pigeon Pie Mystery - is it coming south?

#19 (94 for the year) Clara and Mr. Tiffany
Susan Vreeland's ability to show us the intricacies of various art forms and the world of those artists is well known. I've read all her books, and I think this one is definitely her best.

By choosing to focus on the woman who led the "Tiffany Girls" who were responsible for the design and manufacture of the famous Tiffany glass lamps, she has given us not only the story of the glass, but the story of changing women's roles in the early part of the twentieth century. She has also given us a lesson in the glass techniques and in the Tiffany Glass company culture, particularly Tiffany's hard and fast rule that the company would not employ a married woman.

From the 1893 Chicago World's Fair where Louis Comfort Tiffany originally attracted the public's attention, to the middle of the next century, Vreeland paints the picture of Clara Driscoll, as she struggled to maintain and enhance her position in the company, to protect the jobs for the women in their own division, and to gain acknowledgement of her role and talent as the designer and main artistic inspiration for much of Tiffany's famous work.  In spite of her complex and close relationship with Mr. Tiffany, she eventually was faced with standing up to the management, and ultimately leaving the company.

Vreeland uses Clara Driscoll's letters as the basis for the story of her artistic and managerial achievements at the Tiffany Glass company.  That alone would have been an interesting story. However, the author's ability to breath life into her personal relationships with a very bohemian group of fellow roomers at the boarding house where she lived most of her life.  Her early marriage (and subsequent widowhood which allowed her to return to working), her exotic love affair with Edwin Booth, and her lifetime relationship with Edwin's gay brother added color and depth to the story.  Vreeland is also excellent at giving us a picture of the bone-crushing poverty of the average immigrant living in the tenements of New York.  Clara is often able to find young women who have the native talent to learn the work and her ability to provide them with steady employment often meant the difference between living and starvation. 

It's a well-crafted, well-researched story that is sure to please art-lovers, and fans of women's fiction.  My experience was especially enhanced by  Ms. Vreeland's post Discovering Clara on her webpage.  Be sure to check out the breathtaking photos of the stained glass.

Author: Susan Vreeland
Publisher-Format: Random House (2011), Hardcover, 432 pages 
Subject: Tiffany stained glass, women's roles
Setting:  New York City
Genre: historical fiction
Source: Public library

Sorry Cheli.....Pigeon Pie is spoken for up here....but you can enter the contest!!!!

Thanks Tina, I guess for adding The Pigeon Pie Mystery and Left Neglected. Terrific reviews! And I picked up The Chaperone a couple of weeks ago when it was offered as the Kindle Daily Deal.

Nice review of The Chaperone! I heard Laura Moriarty read from that one a couple of weeks ago, and I can't wait to read it. I'm thinking about using it as my airplane book when I have to fly later this week. It sounds like the kind of book that will distract me from my hatred of flying.

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed The Pigeon Pie Mystery. (Touchstones are hard to do on an iPhone.) It's already on my TBR list.

#20 (95 on the year) Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake


There have been numerous formal reviews of this latest collection of Anna Quindlan's work, so this one will be just a few comments to provide my insights in case you're still on the fence.

This is a perfect vacation read for us over-50s. It's definitely a woman's book that can have some appeal to women of all ages, but those of us who emerged from girlhood in the 60s and 70s can particularly appreciate her musings on life: liking oneself, wanting to change, changing, and finally ending up really liking oneself again. I listened to the audio version of this, read by the author, and was instantly transported back to my mid-Atlantic East Coast, catholic school upbringing.

Yes, it may have rambled on, yes it may have said in 200 words what she might have said in 150, but that's how I often think and talk too. When you get to our age, you're entitled to ramble and repeat.  It's relaxing, uplifting, re-affirming. Just the thing to start off on a trip back to girlhood summers with the family. It would also make a wonderful gift for a BFF today.

Author: Anna Quindlen
Publisher-Format: Books on Tape, audio 7 hrs
Narrator: Anna Quindlen

Year of publication: 2012
Subject: growing up female
Genre: memoir
Source: public library download

I'll have to try that one some time, Tina. I like good "beach/vacation reads" every once in awhile.

Dang! You have been reading a lot of fun books! I have already read Left Neglected (and also enjoyed it immensely), so I am off the hook for that one, but some of the others have to go on the list. Thanks!

*big smooch*

I'm back from vacation.!!! That's the YEAH part. It was wonderful to be with kids (now grown and interesting), grandkid (even more grown and interesting), tons of cousins, playing Angry Birds, eating ice cream and pizza, walking the beach, and simply vegetating. In the two weeks we were gone, I only managed 3 books.

Now I simply have to deal with two dying cars, a dying cat and a dying refrigerator, and a hubster book in the thick of editing throes to get it ready for publication.

To handle all that (the gruesome details you will be spared), I've immersed myself in audio books whilst I do needlework in the gazebo (I may not be reading The Fifty shades of Gray but my current work in the blue heron contains almost that many variations!!)

And reading.....I am so far behind on reviews and hubbie so far behind on editing, ( I think my blog fans think I've taken a powder) that I've banned the TV, banned the internet, and unplugged the phones for long periods of time. In short, we've been in hibernation.

So today is the TO DO DAY. I must get the 7 reviews done that are finished before I open another book (I cheated and started Battleborn, a book of short stories on my Nook, while eating breakfast .) I have now locked the NOOK away. Dinner is already done (a caesar shrimp salad, foccacia bread and a good white wine), lunch (a huge bowl of fruit and yogurt) is here to offer me sustenance and I'm digging in.

I'll be posting #21 - #27 (msg 3 above) here and on various other reviewing venues for the next few days. So check back often. After these are done, I hope to get to all of your threads to do at least a drop by de-lurking smooch.

#21 (96) The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry



Harold Fry is recently retired from working in a brewery.  He is bored. He and his wife Maureen have been married for 40 years.  To put it mildly, their marriage has grown so stale that it is only the fact that they both give the same address and eat at the same table that corroborates that legal status.

Then Harold receives a letter from Queenie Hennessy, with whom he worked at the brewery, but who has not been heard from since she left town 20 years ago.  Queenie writes to say that she is dying and is in a hospice in Berwick upon Tweed.  She wants simply to say "goodbye."

Harold, pens a proper reply on proper stationery, and leaves the house dressed in dock-siders, shirt, tie, jacket, dress slacks, to walk to the corner to post his letter.  When he gets to the post box, he realizes he's missed the last pickup of the day, and decides to walk up the road to the next box.  Thus begins the journey of Harold Fry to save Queenie Hennessy.  A series of chance encounters early in his walk convince him that he should visit her personally, and that she will not die as long as she is waiting for him to arrive.

He has no cell-phone, no map (and he hasn't the vaguest idea of where Berwick on Tweed is in relation to where he lives in Kingsbridge), no protective clothing, no good walking shoes.  He has only an inner compulsion to see Queenie again, to keep walking.  When he starts out, he's not sure why.  He's not sure where he's going (physically or metaphorically), he's only sure that he must keep going.  He does have some spare change, and his debit card with him, so along the way he buys food, and simple sustenance items. He does call his wife after a bit tell her what he's doing and endure her less than encouraging responses.

Harold's journey is a story of the human spirit.  He meets people along the way, and is able to learn from all of them.  It also becomes Maureen's story, as the author shifts periodically back to Kingsbridge to show us the other side of the marriage, and how it came to the point where it is.  Harold's journey is not a straight path: he jigs, jogs, stops, starts, hesitates, falters, but in the end he accomplishes his goal.  He gets to Queenie's  

The symbolic elements in this book are too numerous to list.  The writing is elegant.  The characters are spot on.  Rachel Joyce has given us a heart-warming, heart-breaking story of life, of dreams (both fulfilled and long-abandoned), of hope and forgiveness.  It is a story to be treasured and  savored.There's a lot for discussion and I venture it will become a favorite of book clubs across the country. 

And by the way, my ARC did not have a map (the empty page indicated it was to be included in the final edition).  I googled to find a map of the UK, and kept it open as I followed Harold's journey.  Google Maps pegs it at 467 miles if you go on the M5, but Harold's 87 day on-again, off-again trek took him 627 miles.   The ending is dramatic, cathartic, and endearing.

This is a book you want to last 87 days, so you can take that walk with Harold and Maureen.  It will definitely be on my top of the year list. Don't miss it. I gave it 5 LT Stars!!!

Booker Prize Long list
Author: Rachel Joyce
Publisher-Format: Random House, 2012, ARC 336 pages,
Subject: marriage, grief, introspection, journey
Setting: present day England
Genre: contemporary narrative fiction
Source: ARC from the publisher

I'll try to read it at some point. I've seen some enthusiastic reviews and some that weren't so glowing, but yours has convinced me to give it a try.

Loved your review, Tina! Already on the waitlist. *nyah*

#22 (97) Tigers in Red Weather


 The press release says

Nick and her cousin, Helena, have grown up sharing sultry summer heat, sunbleached boat docks, and midnight gin parties on Martha's Vineyard in a glorious old family estate known as Tiger House.  In the days following the end of the Second World War, the world seems to offer itself up, and the two women are on the cusp of their 'real lives': Helena is off to Hollywood and a new marriage, while Nick is heading for a reunion with her own young husband, Hughes, about to return from the war. 

This one was a really pleasant surprise. I grabbed it from Net Galley and loaded it on my Nook just before we left on vacation earlier this month and I'm really glad I did.  I was prepared for a fluffy beach read, and instead was treated to a brilliantly written story of family intrigue, dark secrets, a spectacular sense of place, and well-crafted characters.  Klaussmann tells us the story from each of the five main characters' point of view, and the result is breathtaking.  It's five stories, all bound together, about expectations, marriages gone awry, romances dying on the vine, with each story clearly labeled in place and time so we are always at ease with where we are on the journey. The deeper into the book I got, the less I wanted to put it down.

The marketing blurb continues:

 Soon the gilt begins to crack.  Helena's husband is not the man he seemed to be, and Hughes has returned from the war distant, his inner light curtained over.  On the brink of the 1960s, back at Tiger House, Nick and Helena--with their children, Daisy and Ed--try to recapture that sense of possibility. But when Daisy and Ed discover the victim of a brutal murder, the intrusion of violence causes everything to unravel. The members of the family spin out of their prescribed orbits, secrets come to light, and nothing about their lives will ever be the same.

Even the genre is difficult to put a label on.  It can be a mystery but the mysterious elements aren't the driving force; it could be a romance but those relationships, while important, aren't pulling the train either; for some readers it will be a coming of age novel; others will view it as historical fiction- particularly those who want to re-live summers spent on Martha's Vineyard, World War II coming home stories, and growing up in the Eisenhower days; some will find it very dark but others will be able to ignore the dark parts and see it simply as a tale of generational  and psychological drama.  However you read it, what it is NOT is boring.  In fact, I didn't quite get it finished before we left Ocean City so I told hubby he had to drive first, because I was going to finish this book before it got dark and I couldn't read in the car!

Let's hope Ms. Klaussmann has more elegant story-telling to share with us in the future.

Author: Liza Klaussmann
Publisher-Format: Little Brown and company (2012), e-galley 368 pages
Subject: Family relationships, secrets
Setting: Martha's Vineyard 1945-1969
Genre: fiction
Source: ARC from publisher via Net Galley

Tina, the touchstone in your review is wrong for Tigers in Red Weather, just so you know.

Actually, I think it's the same book, just a different cover. I have no idea how to discumbobulate stuff like that, so I'll leave the combining to the good folks who do. In the meantime, I'm fixing the touchstone. Thanks for the headsup Richard.

#23 (98) Scone Island: An Ike Schwartz Mystery


Here's another one that was a surprise.  I didn't realize when I downloaded the ARC via Net Galley, that it was #8 in the Ike Schwartz Mystery series.  I only saw Maine, Coast, Lighthouse, island, and I thought "Perfect for a vacation read!"  I'm so glad I didn't pay any attention to the publisher's blurb before I read it, because after I saw their recap, I wondered if I'd read the same book.  I'm sure you can find their skinny on the Poisoned Pen Press website, so I'll just give you my Two Cents on this one.

First of all, it can be easily read as a stand-alone, although I am now motivated to go back and find earlier ones in the series.

Secondly, it's definitely a police procedural with some clandestine espionage from Ike's previous life coming back to haunt both the good police sheriff of Picketville Virginia and his wife Ruth who is recovering from injuries suffered before this book takes place.  If you believe the PPP folks and their marketing blurb, you'll think this is about settling an estate and the FBI.  If you believe the opening page of the book itself ("Dear Readers") you'll be more inclined to think you're going to read a story about Ruth and Ike going to Maine (no electricity, no cell phones, a true rustic adventure) to rest and recuperate from Ruth's injuries, and being pursued by Ike's former colleagues at the CIA. When you read the book, it doesn't really matter....just that Ike and Ruth don't get the relaxing vacation they bargained for.

Anyway, there are bodies galore, mysterious deaths, great scenes of how to cope in the modern world without modern machinery and weapons (or do they?) and a rip-roaring, fun, old fashioned who dunnit. I really enjoyed this book. The sense of place is spot on. The characters are lovable, quirky, and of a certain 'over-the-hill' age that is welcome to see in this day of well-buffed anorexic, egoistic body-builders; there's a well-developed plot,that while it has twists and turns, does not leave the reader in a knot.

Although I haven't read the earlier ones in the series, I suspect this one is a worthy addition.  Just read the book and don't believe anything anybody tries to tell you about the story (even Tutu).

Author: Frederick Ransay
Publisher-Format: Poisoned Pen Press, (2012) egalley 268 pages
Subject: mysterious murders
Setting: fictional island off coast of Maine
Series: Ike Schwartz mysteries (#8)
Genre: retired crime fighter cozy mystery
Source: ARC from publisher via Net Galley

#24 (99) The Lifeboat


This one opens on the steps of a courthouse, and the reader immediately must shift the expectation away from a lifeboat drifting with survivors, to a landlocked scene.  Here we meet 22 year old Grace Winter who appears to be on trial for her life. We soon discover that Grace is also a widow, a survivor, and a strong woman who gives us the story of how she and her fellow survivors endured  life on the high seas.

Grace and her husband Henry were sailing from England to America to escape the impending war.  At the same time Grace was sailing toward a mother-in-law who was not going to approve of Henry's wife.  When the ocean liner exploded, those who survived found themselves in severely overcrowded lifeboats adrift in the Atlantic Ocean with no compass and no idea where they were. In Grace's case, her husband was missing, and the boat she was pushed into was "captained" by John Hardie, the only member of the crew on the boat.  Under his austere leadership, they managed to survive on limited rations of food and water, thinking that distress signals had been sent before the ship sank, and that they would be soon rescued.

When the weather turned ugly, and the ocean became much more turbulent, it was obvious that the boat would sink unless the load was lightened. So began a battle amongst the castaways among themselves, and with themselves.  Through the pages of Grace's diary which her defense lawyer and psychologist have asked her to write, we see the intense inner struggle she and many others go through.  We are introduced to many of the participants in the drama, and develop favorites.  The horror of the dilemma facing each passenger is presented starkly, and with gripping finality.

In addition to relating the horrors of the lifeboat, Grace interweaves her personal story, causing the reader to ponder how much this background influences her decisions on the fateful journey.  This novel is hypnotic and gut-wrenching.  The story is a classic one, often used in ethics and morality classrooms to force people to examine moral choices and accept the inevitable.  How Grace survives the ordeal, only to face a trial for murder is an underlying theme throughout.  By opening at the end, Rogan lets us know that at least some passengers survived.  It is the telling of the voyage and the rescue along the way that make it impossible to put this one down.

I predict that this one is going to be one of the all-time top picks for book club discussions in the coming year.  It is especially powerful as an audio book, and the narrator Rebecca Gibble gives an outstanding performance, mastering many accents and dialects to paint us vivid audio pictures.

Author:  Charlotte Rogan
Publisher-Format: Hachette Audio 2012, 7 hrs 47 min, 288 pg equivalent
Narrator: Rebecca Gibble
Subject: survival, abandonment, morality
Setting: a lifeboat adrift in the Atlantic, 1914
Genre: historical fiction

You've had some interesting reads there, Tina. I don't need any additions to my wish list, but I see it's expanding again.

#25 (100) The Song of Achilles


Back in the dark ages, when Tutu was in high school, I vaguely remember that we were assigned selected readings from the Iliad and the Odyssey.  If I read them, very little stuck, and I remember them as boring and without any meaning for me.  These were myths, legends, and everything happened so long ago, that what did it matter?  Now along comes Madeline Miller's Song of Achilles.  Would it change my mind?

Many many thanks to all of you here on LT who praised this one so eloquently and loudly that I had to read it.  Still, I approached it with great trepidation.  In fact, I had downloaded the ebook through the library's program because I was sure I wouldn't want to waste a lot of time or money on this one.  I had a preconceived notion that Greek mythology wasn't going to cut it. So I didn't even open the downloaded book until I had only 3 days left on the check- out!! It was a race to the finish line to complete the story before the downloaded file expired, and it's now on  my list to purchase for my permanent collection.  I was so wrong and I'm happy to say so.

Madeline Miller's debut novel, winner of the prestigious Orange Prize for Fiction in 2012, is an absolute knock-out.  From the minute I started reading, I couldn't put it down.  Written from the point of view of Patroclus, an exiled prince who becomes the companion of Achilles, Miller  treats us to a detailed, lavish view of life during the golden glory days of Greece. We meet those legendary figures from our high school anthologies: Odysseus, Agamemmon, Menelaus, and Achilles' mother the sea-goddess Thetis who despises mortals, and is especially antagonistic toward Patroclus.   Miller's writing brings all of them to life, showing their relations to events, and giving us new glimpses of the myths we remember.

The story follows Patroclus and Achilles as they apprentice themselves to the centaur Chieron, learning both survival and military skills. As they reach young adulthood, we get a ring-side seat at the Trojan war, when men of Greece, who had sworn a blood oath to rescue her, were called to Troy to rescue the fair Helen.  I can't really compare this telling to those of my mid 20th century high school curriculum.  I can only say it was a compelling story, told in a narrative that holds the reader's interest and presents the age old tale of the Iliad in a new and gripping version.  It even made me want to go find a good translation of the original to see where the story got started.  There's no doubt in my mind that it deserves all the hype and awards.  Highly recommended.

Orange Prize For Fiction 2012
Author: Madeline Miller
Publisher-Format:  Harper Collins, Ecco; epub , 352 pages
Year of publication: 2011 (UK)
Subject: Story of Achilles
Setting: Ancient Greece
Genre: mythology, historical fiction
Source: Public library download  but soon to be a permanent purchase for my personal collection.

Holy moley, one fabulous book after another Tina! And how you crank out these reviews is beyond me. I already read and loved The Song of Achilles, I have Unlikely Pilgrimage home from the library and I will look for The Lifeboat ASAP. This is a dangerous place to be.

#26 (101) The Shoemaker's Wife

The majestic and haunting beauty of the Italian Alps is the setting of the first meeting of Enza, a practical beauty, and Ciro, a strapping mountain boy, who meet as teenagers, despite growing up in villages just a few miles apart. At the turn of the last century, when Ciro catches the local priest in a scandal, he is banished from his village and sent to hide in America as an apprentice to a shoemaker in Little Italy. Without explanation, he leaves a bereft Enza behind. Soon, Enza's family faces disaster and she, too, is forced to go to America with her father to secure their future. 

So begins the advertising blurb.  I should have loved this book.  My grandparents came from Italy and many of my childhood memories are of Italian meals, Italian celebrations and superstitions and festivities.  The publishers stress that this is Adriana Trigiani's tribute to her grandparents, and tout it as a magnificent work of homage to her heritage.  There are paragraphs upon paragraphs written about the depth of the affection shown in the writing, and the wonderful way she plumbs the psyches of the characters with their love of Italy, love of family, and devotion to their children.

It's a good story, it's a good romance, and the historical detail about the immigrant experience in New York and then in the mid-west rings true.  But there's just way too much of it.  If I hadn't wanted to see whether Enza and Ciro ever get back to their roots in northern Italy to see the old country, I'd have given up about half-way through.  It took them forever  to find each other, and then it takes the author forever to develop each new happening in their lives.  The emotional introspection often goes on for pages, and slows the progress of the story, making it an excruciating read.

I wondered if this could be seen as the prequel to her VValentine series, although that was never mentioned.  If you're a fan of Trigiani, and are used to her lengthy emotional blatherings, then you'll love this one.  If you like your writing crisp and clear, just be advised this one is frothier than that.  It's got enough meat that I wouldn't call it chick-lit, but I'd have to be in a chick-lit/romance frame of mind to take it all in one dose. And I'd have preferred it to be about 100 pages shorter.

Author: Adriana Trigiani
Publisher-Format: Harper 2012, 496 pages
Subject: Italian heritage, immigrants, shoemaking
Setting: Italian Alps, New York City, Hibbing and Chisolm Minnesota
Genre: Historical fiction, romance
Source: Public library

Try the Fagles translations. The two books are.very different, one taking place in a single place and time, the other a real epic journey lasting twenty years. They are about more than they seem. The Odyssey is very good out loud too. I think the author may have recorded them.

#27 (102) Elegy for Eddie


I'm a great fan of this series.  With each new volume, I almost dread reading it because I'm afraid the story will get stale, or the characters won't be able to continue to expand.  Jacqueline Winspear has so far avoided both those traps.

In this one, Maisie Dobbs is called upon to look into the unexpected death of a young man, Eddie Pettit, she's known since her childhood.  Was is murder? An accident? and what about all the ensuing unusual deaths  of people connected to Eddie?  And why was her assistant Billy Beale assaulted while he was investigating this?

In addition to the current mystery, Maisie continues to struggle with her new status as a wealthy woman, while remembering her roots as a servant in the mansion she now inhabits. She is growing more and more anxious about her relationship with James Compton.  Will they marry?  Will James demand that she give up her private investigating business?  Will she be able to maintain her sense of self?

Frost these two layers of the cake with an excellent discussion of the political atmosphere in England during the second half of the decade (1930s) as the world watched Adolf Hitler grab power and re-arm.  Winspear has given us another great mystery, some well-researched historical facts woven in the fiction, and managed to continue the romance without resolving the ultimate question.  There's definitely room for more of this delightful series and protagonist. 

Author: Jacqueline Winspear
Publisher-Format: Harper (2012), 352 pages
    also Audio from Hachette Audio 10hrs 10min
Narrator: Orlagh Cassidy
Subject: morality, rise of Hitler, mystery surrounding several deaths
Setting: London, late 1930's
Series: Maisie Dobbs (#9)
Genre: mystery- private investigator
Source:  Hardback : a contest win from Audra at unabrigedchick.com;  
      Audio download from public library

while i'm tracking reads, I re=read the wonderful Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin for our bookclub this past week. I thoroughly enjoyed it when I read it back in 2009 so this time I listened to the audio version.....such fun. This is a great series and I'm looking forward to reading the final one in the series A Murderous Procession. It was the first group read I ever participated in for LT, and the discussion questions were a huge help to me when I had to lead the discussion at the liberry.

P.S. EVERYONE loved it. If you haven't read it, go grab a copy.

It made me think of the English lit professor who gave her class the assignment to write a short story. It had to contain three elements: mystery, sex, and religion. The winner turned in her story: "Dear God, I'm pregnant. I wonder how that happened?"

MOAOD has it all!!!

I have duly thumbs-upped all available reviews. I wish to bleat a mild complaint about Trigiani's work in general: Too. Many. Words.

And who are you trying to kid? Patroclus was two years ahead of you at school, and Bob got started in the Athenian Navy. Don't front with ME, little lady.

;-P~~~

If you still have Lifeboat, will you save it for me, please?
The others I'll have to track down at the liberry.

Cheli.....Lifeboat was an OD download--in fact I just checked, and there's only 1 person on the waiting list in MD. Get thee on the list!!!

Richard Darling......I believe I said Ms. Trigiani could have done with 100 page edit. But.....let's please excuse the lady....after all she ( like moi) is Italian. We never say anything in 10 words when 100 will do.

Smoochies....

Tina

Have you read The Queen of the Big Time by Adriana Trigiani? If not, I recommend it. As a child I lived near the town she notes in the story. in the 1950's Roseto, Pennsylvania was 99.99999% Italian populated. My friends were Italian. I loved, and still do love the culture!

It's not just the one book, though, Tina, and if it was I'd keep my piehole shut...everything! All of it!

Permaybehaps I'm just not a Trigianianista. And, in direct contrast to her, I offer Andrea Camilleri of Inspector Montalbano fame...laconic, that man, positively clam-like. ...?...

*smooch*

Tina - I've heard really good things about The Shoemaker's Wife from our library patrons. Sorry to hear it didn't work quite as well for you. After reading your review though, I've decided I probably ought to read some of her other books first. I'll eventually get to the Winspear book, but I'm behind on the series.

#28 (103) The House in Amalfi


The ideal ending to a wonderful summer of reading.  I loaded this one on my MP3 before I left on vacation, but just got to it this week.  Elizabeth Adler is known for her lush portrayals of Mediterranean romantic getaways, and this one certainly provides it all-- romance, scenery, and a hint of mystery

Although it could have been stereotypical-- more girl is disappointed with first love...Girl runs away to "be alone" and "discover herself"...Girl meets boy and boy's father...Girl is looking for her father...Girl looks for happiness in the land (and house) of her childhood...Girl falls in love--Adler manages to avoid the hackneyed and gives us a character with some depth, and a love story with a bit of mystery.

Lamour Harrington, a recent widow and certified landscape architect returns to the house where she grew up with her less than orthodox and now dead father, a famous author.  She intends to restore the old house and find happiness being independent.  She also wants to find out "the rest of the story" surrounding the meager facts she has been given about her father's death.  Was his death an accident?  Was he murdered?  What really happened and why won't anybody talk about it?

She doesn't figure on Italian men, and their perception that "independent woman" is an oxymoron.  Her romanticized memories of the past are not meshing with the realities of today, and her struggles to achieve her dreams provide the reader with a lovely warm and fuzzy read when something not too heavy is called for.

Adler's descriptions of the Amalfi coast area and her discussion of Italian cuisine always rate high with me, and her portrayal of the emotional roller-coaster ride of the main character is equally satisfying.  The audio version is well-done by Carrington MacDuffie.  I was able to follow the book easily as I sat outside in the beautiful Maine summer working on my needlework.  As I said, a wonderful way to start the summer wrap-up.

Author: Elizabeth Adler
Publisher-Format: BBC Audio Books America, 2006, 9 hrs
Narrator: Carrington MacDuffie
Subject: Finding love in one's roots
Setting: Amalfi Coast of Italy
Genre: Chick-lit, romance
Source: Public library audio download

Ooooo Amalfi oooooooooooooo

Still. Not for me, but you came close to convincing me to sample.

Abandoned

Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins

A book of short stories supposedly loosely autobiographical, set in the American West. While Booklist waxes eloquent about this one, I had to Perle rule it. The first story, about her father's involvement with the Charles Manson gang, left me cold. I tried two others, and just couldn't get into it. It may be a terrific read if you are a fan of the western setting--I'm not, and have never been. I love the short story genre, but not enough to struggle through any more of this one.

Red Ruby Heart in a Cold Blue Sea by Morgan Callan Rogers

I can't keep this one on the shelf at our little library. Set in Maine, it purports to tell the story of a young girl whose mother disappears and who is left to the gentle upbringing of her gran in a small coastal town in Maine. The premise is one I ought to have enjoyed. However, since it was difficult to nab the hard cover book, I got excited when I saw that it was available in audio, a format I'm normally ecstatic about. Unfortunately, the writing is not suited to the audio format. The author seems unable to present us dialogue without "she said, he said, she said, ad nauseum . I had to give up or run screaming onto the highway to be run over by a lobster truck. Perhaps when I can settle down with the print version where my visual brain can skip over the unecessary words, I will be able to appreciate this one.

Murder by Mocha by Cleo Coyle

I enjoyed the first one in this Coffeehouse Mysteries series, and was excited when this one came up on my BOGOF sale list with audible. I had some credits to spend and grabbed it, not realizing it was #10 in the series. Meaning I've missed 2-9. When I started listening, I didn't like the narrator, had trouble following the characters, and just couldn't get excited. I'm thinking I need to read a few of the intervening episodes before tackling this one.

Tina, I understand your feelings about Battleborn. The first few stories did nothing for me and I put the book aside for a couple of weeks. I did pick it back up, and found some gems among the remaining stories but not enough to understand all the rhapsodizing about it. I haven't reviewed it yet, but will probably give it 3.5 stars because there was some really striking writing....

Katie....thanks for the input. Perhaps I'll give it another go later on. Can the stories be read individually, or do I need to give it time to read in toto

I think they can be read individually. The only over-arching feature was the setting and the emotional bleakness of all of them.

Lots of great reviews! Hope you are all caught up now and can deal with all the other things going on.

#29 (104) A Rule against Murder by Louise Penney.

Read this one back in 09, and after I'd read an advance copy of Beautiful Mystery - out today - I wanted to read the whole series again. I've been doing them in audio and am finding them even more enjoyable the second time around.

*Waving* at Tina

I am currently reading A Beautiful Mystery and loving it!

September Series and Sequels #1

#30 (105) Jana Bibi's Excellent Fortunes


Author: Betsy Woodman
Publisher-Format: Henry Holt & Company (2012), ARC 302 pages
Subject: Life in India
Setting: Hamara Nagar India
Series: Jana Bidi
Genre: cozy fiction
Source: Early Reviewers program of LibraryThing.com

Billed as the "first of a charming series" and reminiscent of the 1st Ladies Detective Agency series, Gail Fraser's Lumby series, or Ann Ross's Miss Julia series, Woodman re-visits the land of her childhood and gives us a charming, eccentric, thoroughly modern widow - Janet Laird (aka Jana Bibi), her parrot Mr. Ganguly, and her maid Mary.  The book also brings to mind the characters and adventures of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - the characters are as quirky and the setting is enchanting.

Jana Bibi has inherited an old ramshackle house (the Jolly Grant House) that she lived in as a child.  It has been years and a lifetime of (mis)adventures since she's seen the place, but she is determined that this is where she will live out her golden years.  She immediately sets out to refurbish the house and get to know her neighbors - an assortment of people representing a large swath of Indian life - Hindus, Muslims, English and American ex-pats from every socio-economic level. When the townsfolk become aware that the government is planning to build a dam in the area and intends to flood their town forcing them all to relocate, they decide to take matters into their own hands to save the town and cancel the dam.

Almost every review of this delightful book uses the word "charming" to describe it and the characters in it.  I'd add captivating and enchanting to the list.  There is nothing heavy, it starts out a bit slowly, but the reader is immediately lost in a dazzling culture that is portrayed with love and respect.  It almost needs a "Once Upon a Time" and a "happily ever after"  to make it perfect, but even without them, it's a magical and pleasant reading adventure.

Woodman also explains the setting with a short author's note at the beginning, gives us a very well-written and easy to use glossary of terms, and then adds some "etcetera" - extra features about the characters  and some of the setting designed to enhance our understanding, and definitely whetting our appetite for more of the series.  A well-done debut. 4 stars

September Series and Sequels #2

#31 (106) Poppy Done to Death


I'm often rather harsh in my assessments of amateur detectives, but Aurora Teagarden doesn't get any flying arrows from me.  I love this character.  First of all she's a librarian.  She's bright, she's funny, she's mature, and she's smart enough to know when to involve the professionals.
In this latest episode of the series, Roe as she's known,  discovers the murdered body of her step-sister-in-law Poppy when Ms. P misses her induction into the Uppity Women club; that same day she accepts custody of her runaway 15 yr old half-brother Phillip, who arrives unannounced for Thanksgiving (she thought he was in California); she confronts her own feelings about parenting, extra-marital sex, and her current relationship to Robin Crusoe the author, all while trying to figure out why Poppy was murdered, and then why Poppy's house was trashed AFTER the police finished investigating the crime scene.

All the regulars are there, with new and introspective insights into their characters and motivations.  It's an easy cozy read, but has plenty of meat to the plot.  I didn't have that AHA moment until nearly the end, and that's the way I enjoy mysteries --- the plot building to a surprise ending, lots of suspects being ruled in/out one at a time.  I enjoy most of Charlaine Harris' work but must say I think this series is one of my favorites.  I was quite pleased to see that the story left the door wide open for more adventures and a new phase in Ro's life.

Author: Charlaine Harris
Publisher-Format: Recorded Books, 2009,  8 hrs
Subject: unsolved murder
Setting: Laurenceton GA (fictional town)
Series: Aurora Teagarden mysteries
Genre: cozy mystery - amateur sleuth
Source: purchased audible from Audible.com

>135 tututhefirst: *pow* a hit! A palpable hit! The liberry has one and I've asked for it.

>136 tututhefirst: I dunno...I didn't like Lily Bard, so I'm a weentsy tidge reluctant to sample Aurora. Liked the review, though.

Last month, while we spent some time with my Mom, we were 'awarded' our bag of books from my father's library. Dad died in 2007, and the following year, as I was helping my Mom sort through stuff, I discovered LT. We used it to catalog Dad's small collection, and then invited his four daughters, grandchildren, and sons-in-law to go into the account and put a note in the comments section if they wanted the book.

Using that listing, Mom has been sorting out the books into bags, and is now able to distribute books to people she knows will "love them." Several of the books we garnered were for Bob's naval/military collections, and several are books I wouldn't have touched in a used book sale, but the sentimental value of these means they will stay on my shelves for a while until I'm sure I can let go. It's too bad that LT doesn't have a function to move the book from one account to the other. I did delete them from Dad's as I added them to ours. Here's the inheritance list:

The Etruscan by Mika Waltari
A Kind of Anger by Eric Ambler
Time of Peace by Ben Ames Williams – tween the wars
This is Rome by H.V.Morton
The Game of the Foxes by Ladislas Farago
Nelson the Commander by Geoffrey Bennett
We, The People the story of the US Capitol by US Capitol Historical Society
American Vignettes - a Collection of Footnotes to History by John I. White
Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway
Ramage by Dudley Pope
Crimson Desert Indian Wars of the American Southwest by Odie B. Faulk
A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy by Paul S. Dull
The House on Garibaldi Street by Isser Harel
The Purple Quest by Frank G. Slaughter
The Last Plantagenets by Thomas Costain

I remember how highly Thomas Costain was thought of and I rememer trying to read some of his books when I was quite young. I think some of the books were a bit over my head, but I certainly do know that name.

I remember Costain quite well. When I was young, maybe pre-teen, I went through our entire library's collection of them. They may not have been entirely appropriate - none of the sex you would get in similar books now, but certainly lots of scary history. I recall especially one book set among the Spanish Conquistadors that can still send me shivers.

I remember reading The Last Plantagenets when I was about 12. Daddy (Tina is my sister) laughed when I took it off the shelf. I think he was surprised that I read the whole thing. I think it was the book that started my love of historical tales. Glad it has a good home.

Our little town library operates from our Village Schoolhouse - a whole 936 sq ft. Into that space, we've managed to cram almost 6000 books, movies, audios, 3 public computers, a staff work space, and a children's play area. We have a huge Maine collection (books by Maine authors, books about Maine, books set in Maine). However, we have to be vigilant about allowing items to remain on the shelves when others are waiting their turn. After all, we have the books on the shelves to CIRCULATE, not to sleep there forever. My theory is that a really successful library should have shelves that are perpetually empty!!!!

About once a year we weed. We have a committee of three and it takes 2 votes to remove a book from the collection. Anything that has not circulated in the past 10 years, or hasn't circulated w/i 2 years if it's "New", is a candidate for withdrawal.

In the past, we tried having book sales to pass them on, but have found that if they didn't circulate from the shelves, they weren't going to sell either. So we have a freebie shelf, where we put books that we think still have appeal, and tell people they can make a donation if they wish-- they fly off that shelf and we make decent $$, but we don't have room for more than about 50 at a time. We also have established a freebie shelf at the local County airport terminal (there is no bookstore there) so people can grab something to read before getting on a flight. And finally we put a shelf of freebies in the town office, so people can browse while they wait to fill out papers for car tags, pay taxes, get building permits, etc. These have been a big success. Large print books go to the nursing home, and the rest (those that are in pretty bad shape) are destined for recycling (ssh...that means the town "transfer station" aka-da dump).

As we have been sorting, I've grabbed some of those books that I've been staring at for the past 5 years. These are ones that often fall under the heading of "I want to read that someday". So I brought them home for a temporary reprieve. As I get them read, they'll go on to find life on one of our freebie shelves. In the meantime, I'm going to have to find a "freebie" shelf (or some designated area) for these treasures. I'm putting them into my catalog here but under a collection called weeds - that way I'll be able to pull them out easily. Here's a select list of the biggies -- I'm not even tackling the entire flat of mass market mystery paperbacks I nabbed...

- Some "Maine Books" (also good candidates for Series and Sequels):

The Baked Bean Supper Murders by Virginia Rich
The Nantucket Diet Murders by Virginia Rich
Colony by Anne Rivers Siddons

- Some CHUNKSTERS I've been wanting to read for years -

Sarum by Edward Rutherford - 890 pages
Sacajawea by Anna Lee Waldo -1350 pages
Olivia and Jai by Rebecca Ryman - 640 pages
I'm suspecting that as I begin to read this group, if the books turn out to be good ones, they're going to end up in my e-library on the Kindle or Nook....they are way too huge for these arthritic hands to fondle for as long as it will take to get throught them

- Some more series fill-ins:

Murder in the House by Margaret Truman
Murder on K Street by Margaret Truman
Murder at the President's Door by Elliott Roosevelt

and three by Diane Mott Davidson:

- - Fatally Flaky
- - Catering to Nobody
- - Chopping Spree

Now if I can just wall myself up in one of Richard's little reading rooms where the magic genie serves drinks and food, where the light is always perfect, where there are no phones, where there is a beautiful snow scene, lovely spring bulbs, boats on the river, or colorful autumn leaves to relieve my eyes from print periodically, where there's a cool summer breeze or a warm winter fire, then maybe....just maybe....I might get these done before I go to the heavenly reading room in the sky....

A girl can dream................

The swingie thingie from thread #20 on your gazebo with an unobtrusive servant for drinks, snacks, and light slavery about the house. A dream, indeed.

I haven't tried a Virginia Rich book yet. Would you say her style is comparable with Joanne Fluke and Diane Mott Davidson, Tina?

Caro....I haven't tried Virginia Rich yet either but she seems to belong to the Fluke/Davidson genre that are easy throwaway reads.. There are four in the series and they're good if for nothing else than the wonderful recipes residing on the end papers!

Tina, I looked her up, and it appears she only wrote the 4 and then the series is continued by Nancy Pickard. I might see what you think of her first. :-)

What a lovely inheritance. My mum was recently sorting through books and was going to donate his copy of LOTR, but it held such memories of him that I couldn't let it go, even though I'll never read it.

It's those things that keep them with us.

I'm pretty sure that Colony is in a TBR box with a couple other Siddons books.

Have just spent 2 hours reading this thread and getting hit with one book bullet after another. I don't even know how many. Fortunately, some of those books were already on the wish list. But only a few.

Love the story about getting your bag of Dad's books. What a thoughtful mother you have. And so jealous of you getting to nab the library's cast-offs. I LOVED Sacajawea when I listened to it on audio many years ago - one of my first audio books ever. For years afterwards, I had to keep reminding myself that it was a novel and that the "facts" of her life as depicted in the book were quite possibly fictional. I kept wanting to share nuggets about her life with people as bits of interesting trivia. I hope you will enjoy it, and I thank you for reminding me of it - I'm off to see if it is still available at our library. What's one more book for the wish list?

ETA - unfortunately, our library no longer has it - will you stick a note in the back that I'd be willing to pay for shipping and provide a suitable donation to the library if you still want to part with it after you've read it?

Sandy....I've put a note in the book. I looked for the audio but couldn't find one by this author Anna Waldo. It is available for my Nook, so I'm sure we can work out some sort of deal.

#150 Thanks! :-) It's good to learn that it is also available for the Nook - I keep forgetting that I have one of those!

Bruiser Lightening

Sad day today....our oldest kitty, Bruiser has gone to the great kitty food bowl in the sky. We made a very difficult decision to put him down. He was a stray we adopted five years ago from the shelter when no one else would take him....he'd been there isolated for 8 months in a special room with one other buddy (whom we also brought home) because he was FIV positive. Over the years he delighted us with tons of affection, amused us with his perfect personality - he would literally lie on his back and let us drop pills down his throat with no fuss. He loved his weekly manicure and daily brushing. He was total love in a 16 pound bag of fur. Unfortunately, he developed asthma and diabetes. We had the asthma under control, but had no desire to subject him (or us) to the rigorous routine of twice daily insulin shots. Bob is out digging a grave right now, so he can rest in peace.

We will spend the rest of the day remembering the big guy and being sure that Lightening (the "little" brother) doesn't get too stressed out.

Aunt Cheli bows her head in a moment of silence.

Reading of one of our furry compatriots moving on, into a new plane of existence always makes me have this strange water showing up in my eyes. Sad for you, but I know you did a fine thing to let Bruiser go when life just was not all that good for him. He sounds like he was a swell buddy while he was with you. You have my empathy as you get used to his not being with you. ((hugs))

Safe journey home, Bruiser.

What a handsome kitty - you and Bob and Lightening will miss him terribly, I'm sure.

I am sorry to hear about Bruiser. I understand about wanting to spare him all those shots though.

((Hugs)) to Tina

Sorry to hear about Bruiser but if you can, take comfort in the fact that he had five wonderful years in a loving environment ensconced with you and your family that may otherwise have never happened.

So sorry to hear about Bruiser Tina.And how wonderful that you get to have your Dad's books. What a nice remembrance.

#32 (107) Sworn to Silence


Last month, I won the 4th book in this series so I decided I'd read at least the first one before diving in to #4. Sworn to Silence is the first of a very popular series featuring Kate Burkholder, an Amish woman who leaves her family and religion and is then shunned by them. 

After a stint in the "big city" and graduation from the police academy Kate returns to her hometown in Ohio as the police chief of the force of four.  I wasn't sure I'd get past the prologue to this book.  It is gruesome and graphic, but gripping.  It appears that a vicious serial killer who last killed 16 years ago has returned, and Kate is having nightmares about her last encounter with this monster.

Make no mistake, there's a lot of blood in this one--too much for my taste.  The story itself is exceptionally well told.  The characters are so well-developed, and the plot so well drawn that,  in spite of the gore, I had to keep going.  In fact, I'll probably want to read at least one more in the series to see how (or whether) some of the personal relationships expand, and whether the Amish community will continue to hold to its long held tradition of limited communication with "the others."

If you're not put off by blood, guts, and violence, this is one series that promises to be a long running, well-written one for lovers of the genre.

Author: Linda Castillo
Publisher-Format: Minotaur, Hardcover (2009) 336 pages
Subject: violent murder, secret keeping
Setting: Painters Creek Ohio (fictional town)
Series: Kate Burkholder mystery
Genre: police procedural mystery
Source: public library

★★★★

So sorry to hear about Bruiser. Putting a fur family member to sleep is always so hard even when it is the right thing to do. {{{{{hugs}}}}}

#161 Got me again! Gruesome or not, I can't resist a good serial killer story!

I'm very sorry about Bruiser, Tina. A tough decision for you, but a kind one for him. Hugs!!!

I need to get back to the Aurora Teagarden series.

I look forward to your ER review of the 4th in the Linda Castillo series. I liked the first one (despite the gore), really disliked the second one (even grislier than the first), and just read the third one, with mixed feelings. At least the third wasn't as gruesome as the first two, IMO. The premise of the series and the setting and characters are definitely interesting.

Sorry about losing Bruiser. Sounds like he was well loved at your home. : (

And, yet again, you have sucked me in with your reviews. : p

Oh, Tina, I'm ever so sorry for your loss of Bruiser. My heart goes out to you. I know how difficult it is to do the loving thing and transition our pet along. It truly is the most humane, kind, loving thing to do. That doesn't make it easier though!

Hugs to you!

How awful it is when we lose our pets, but it's the one thing they can't do for us - live as long as we do, and the hugest thing we can do for them, know when the time is right to give them peace, despite our own selfish needs.

I hope that Lightening is settling down ok without his big brother, and you're coping okay. Take care of yourself.

Thanks to everyone for the kind thoughts about the Bruise. Lightening is still roaming around, but did today start playing with his toys again. He's been "off his feed" since Bruise left, but the vet isn't unhappy about that. "Lites" is a real porker - almost 16 pounds, and could stand to drop a few pounds. We're anxious to keep his weight under control so we have less chance of his developing diabetes.

Did some "putting up" today...lots of my good tomato sauce to keep us happy through the long dark winter ahead. Also got lots of corn put up in the freezer (our local farm stand gave 12 free ears if we spent $20 or more). Some reading, but right now I'm trying to catch up on admin work at the liberry, and trying (w/o much success) to get my own piles of books under control. AAACK>

#161: I get to dodge that particular BB as I have already read it - and the second in the series. I wish my local library would get the third one in soon!

trying (w/o much success) to get my own piles of books under control. AAACK>

Sounds like your book piles are as unruly as mine! ;)

#33 (108) The Parties Versus the People: How to Turn Republicans and Democrats into Americans
Did you know that the constitution does not specify that the Speaker of the House be a congressman?

Did you know that a Senator who filibusters is not required to speak to the subject he is attempting to block?  He or she can recite Julia Child's cookbook if they want to.  All they have to do is keep talking to block legislation from ever coming to a vote.

Did you know that when members of Congress rise to address the body, they must go to the lecturn designated for their political party?  There are two different lecturns!!!

The Parties Versus the People is a well thought-out dissertation on the current gridlocked government in the US today.  The author, a former Republican Congressman, has expanded an article originally published in The Atlantic Monthly (Jun-July 2011 (How to Turn Republicans and Democrats Into Americans - an insider's six-step plan to fix Congress). 

Edwards focuses on the role that political parties play in running elections, managing the flow of legislation through Congress and distorting (and destroying?) democracy as it was envisioned by the Founding Fathers.  Many facts presented were surprising and it is an indication of just how cynical we have become that my reaction to many of his suggestions for improving were of the "good luck Charlie" variety.  I sincerely hope his proposals have some chance of working.

His suggestions--clear, concise, short, easily readable and straight-forward-- include:

Reforming the election system

• Break the power of partisans to keep candidates off the general-election ballot.


• Turn over the process of redrawing congressional districts to independent, nonpartisan commissions.


• Reduce spending, increase competition.

 Reforming the governing system 

• Establish non-partisan Congressional leadership.


• Restore democracy to Congress. Allow members of any party to offer amendments to any House bill and—with rare exceptions—put those amendments to a vote.


• Eliminate the trappings of partisanship.


• Fill committee vacancies by lot. Choose committee staff solely on the basis of professional qualifications.


• Longer work weeks, more interaction.


• Eliminate one-party White House strategy sessions.


• Sign no pledges, stand up to bullies.

"We have partisanship, incivility, unwillingness to compromise because our system itself is designed to encourage conflict..the system in which we have wrapped our democracy engenders conflict over party label, over which club one belongs to, over who might gain an advantage in the next election.  This does not celebrate democracy, it destroys it." (pg. 135)

 "The Oath of Office requires loyalty to the Constitution--not to the president, to a political party, or to any outside organization demanding fealty.  No man or woman should enter Congress with divided loyalties.  It is time for every candidate to refuse to sign any pledge, or take any oath, other than to "fully discharge the duties upon which they are about to enter.  So help me. God" (pg. 156)

It takes no genius to understand why things are the way they are : we have created a political system that rewards intransigence.  Democracy requires divergence and honors dissent, but what we have today is not mere divergence and does not deserve the label "dissent"; it's a nasty battle for dominance, and it's often not the dominance of an idea or a great principle but of a private club that demands undeviating fealty. (pg.171-172)

All is not doom and gloom.  Edwards has painted a realistic and depressing picture of where we are, how we got that way, and how difficult it will be to change things.  He does however offer concrete suggestions to get things moving toward his vision of a more democratic government where ordinary citizens once more will be able to trust that their elected representatives will be able to govern for the good of the citizenry and not for political gain.

There is no more urgent task in American politics than to make fundamental change in how we govern ourselves. (p. 175)

Author Mickey Edwards spent 16 years in Congress and 16 years teaching at Harvard and Princeton. He is a director of The Constitution Project and wrote Reclaiming Conservatism 
Publisher-Format: Yale University Press 2012, 232 pages
Subject: Party politics
Genre: Non-fiction, political science
Source: e-galley from publisher via Net Galley

I would add that every citizen and every elected official must have had some basic education in political philosophies and civic responsibilities. Too many people are woefully ignorant of basic concepts such as the difference between a republic and a democracy. The founding fathers feared democracy and put into the system all sorts of ways to block the tyranny of the majority. Facts like that are quite surprising to those citizens who do not have basic civic education. Likewise, political terms such as communism, socialism, capitalism, anarchy and demagoguery should be precisely defined and only used by people who actually know what the words mean!

I am so disgusted with the power of demagoguery when a word such as socialism can be applied and have huge negative effect because both speaker and audience are basically ignorant.

A very important subject! And I wish more people were sufficiently concerned and would read this book and others like it.

No rating on your review, was it good or bad?

Oops...its an LT 4 1/2. I put the stars in the book page itself. I don't usually include them in my reviews because I post the reviews in several different venues and they all have different rating systems. Also fixed the touchstone in 171 which seems to have disappeared. Hope it works now.

A very, very trenchant call to arms, Tina! Thank you for your most clear and concise presentation of the author's central ideas. Is there a three-thumb option anywhere for reviews like this?

I'd like a shorter campaign period. It just drags on and on and on in this electronic age. I heard one country has only 6 weeks and another has only 5 days from announcement of intent to election. The 5 days might be a bit short, but I could definitely live with the 6 weeks! I'm tired of both parties!

Pearl Ruled - Grandad there's a Head on the Beach

Ok, I know I'm supposed to read the whole thing for Early Review program. But I'm sorry folks, this one is not going to take up any more of my time. I thoroughly enjoed Colin Cotterill's Dr. Siri series, and I managed to get through the first one in this new Jimm Juree series, but just barely. I even thought that by listening to this one I'd have more fun than the first one. NOT. NOT. NOT.

Reviewed only for Early Reviewers....even more boring, plastic, and disjointed than the first. The same cast of characters that are supposed to be quirky, funny, and I think they're meant to be entertaining are only insipid, stupid, and not worth the time to read follow.

The audio version was difficult to follow, the narrator's voice was so sing-song, it was like listening to a Saturday morning cartoon. Too many characters, too little plot, and frankly I think that the country of Thailand deserves a much more robust and positive portrayal than this one.

2 stars is probably a generous rating. If anyone wants the audio book, send me a PM and I'll make arrangements to send it to you. This is definitely not going to take up space on my shelves.

Yes Lori....I too would love a shorter (can you say cheaper?) campaign. I'm so sick of the same crap over and over--it's everywhere. I'm about to blow the TV connection, divorce my news junkie husband, and go check into a lonely cabin in Three Pines....anyone for joining me?

#35 (109) The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

I've been re-reading Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series in order for no reason other than that I just love the stories, the settings, the characters, and Penny's incredible ability to weave an intricate tale. I think this one is still the most complex, and still the second time leaves me unsatisfied with the outcome. Even knowing (or thinking I remembered) what happened and who did what, it was still an exquisite read. If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon, get going.

*packs madly* Wait! Wait! The book truck is coming for the books soon!

Sorry the politics is driving you crazy! Thank goodness there are good books to read, and I think "retiring" to Three Pines would be so keen!

I'm a little afraid of what might happen in a lonely cabin near Three Pines. Maybe we should head to the Bachelor Brothers Bed & Breakfast? Fewer murders there!

Geez ....maybe I do need to go to 3P -- and hope they don't have internet! My computer is MIS-behaving this AM. I think it's saying don't you dare mention that "synonym for bloviating" word again.....

Anyway BBB sounds good too although I think I'd not get much reading done. At either spot, I'd have to do a lot of walking around the gardens to work off the calories from the delish cooking and wines. My suspicion is that ----unless there's a murder investigation going on --- 3P would be more conducive to reading. One can always dream.

I've got to get offline and start on a house project. Actually I have to go to the store and return some books at the library first - and then work on the house.

The Parties Versus the People sounds excellent! Great review.

I was thinking of you today, Tina, when I started reading a book set in Maine :)

Great reviews Tina! My FIL's birthday is coming up and he would LOVE The Parties Versus The People, so thank you for reading and recommending it. And I haven't read a Three Pines in a while. Perfect for one more September Series. : )

#34 More Than Sorrow



Do not start reading this book unless you can stay up all night to finish it!  Once you begin, everything else will be put on hold.   I originally asked for a review copy because I am a fan of Vicki Delany, and I thought this was going to be another of her Constable Molly Smith novels.  So I was only momentarily disappointed to find it was a stand alone.  And believe me, the disappointment quickly turned to fascination, involvement, immersion, and absolute awe.  It is always uplifting to see authors who are able to branch out from established series to try new characters, settings, and plots. Delany doesn't disappoint.

Ostensibly a murder mystery, this book is so much more.  It is a multi-layered, multi-genre, multi-facted story that appears to set up quickly, but then slowly and inexorably pulls the reader into the deeper layers of the story.  It is the story of 3, no - 4, no! - 5 women:  Hannah Manning- a Candadian journalist who has suffered Traumatic Brain injury from an IED explosion while covering the war in Afghanistan; Maggie MacGregor - widow of a Tory soldier who died in the American Revolutionary war and who, in the late 18th century, was one of the original inhabitants of the house where Hannah is staying; Hila, an Afghani woman living in the farmhouse down the road; Lily - Hannah's 12 year old niece; and Rebecca Mansour, Hannah's neurologist.

The hard-scrapple farm where Hannah is staying belongs to her sister and brother-in-law.  It was his family's farm for generations.  It's small, and the couple is determined to eke out a living by producing organic and locally grown food for the family and for local families, eateries and stores.  Low wages, transient workers, and never-ending back-breaking work are the norms that form the framework for the story.   There's a scruffy dog, an attic full of old family mementos,  an obnoxious mother-in-law, some horses, and OH! Did I mention a murder? There are men of authority whose identity is predicated on controlling women throughout the stories of all the cultures and generations of these various women.

While we certainly want to find out all the details of the murder, the real story is the unfolding realization by all the women of how much control they do or do not have over their own destinies.  All the competing stories could have resulted in a scrappy patchwork quilt of a story.  Instead, Delaney deftly weaves all the threads together to form a beautiful tapestry of women's roles, women's plights, and women's strengths over several centuries, and in several different cultures. Yes, the murder is solved but that's all the spoiler you'll get from me.  The real story is how each of these women's lives are impacted by violence, friendship, male dominance, enslavement, and love, generosity, hope and forgiveness.

This is way more than your basic mystery story.

Author: Vicki Delany
Publisher-Format: Poisoned Pen Press, e-galley 312 pages
Date of publication:  Sept 4, 2012
Subject: Traumatic Brain Injury, women's rights, cultural differences, murder
Setting: Prince Edward County Canada
Genre: fiction, mystery
Source: e book from publisher via Net Galley

Wow, Tina .. that's a great review. I managed to snag a copy on bookmooch! Whooohoooo

- 189 ---Oh Caro...you will so enjoy this one I'm sure.

#36 (111) Heaven is High September Series -


The Barbara Holloway series is one I always enjoy.  Practicing law in a restaurant booth in Eugene, Oregon, concentrating on people who can't afford high powered high priced practitioners,  Barbara is a loner defense attorney who periodically teams up with her father, one of the area's most noted defense attorneys to work on some seemingly hopeless cases.  Kate Wilhelm has managed to hold our interest throughout the series by constructing interesting scenarios with an assortment of both clients and crimes.

In Heaven is High, her client is Binnie, the mute wife of a retired NFL player. Binnie has come to the US illegally to escape enslavement in her native land.  The problem is that no one can prove which country --Belize or Haiti -- is her country of origin.  There is no documentation, no relatives, nothing to prevent this woman from being deported to a certain death.

At first Barbara, having no experience in the Immigration services area, declines the case.  But when she is unable to locate a competent attorney to take the case on short notice, she decides to do some preliminary work herself.  Fans of the series know what that means--preliminary quickly turns to full-blown!  She's off and running, pulling in her investigative team, and trying to collect evidence to prevent Binnie's deportation.  It's an exciting story, with several plot twists, and a satisfying ending. Barbara is certainly moving toward a new chapter in her life, moving away from her father's practice, but will that separation continue in future chapters?

The father-daughter partnership is one I've thoroughly enjoyed in past books of this series, and one that I hope will re-surface in the future, but this one continues the capable, competent and feisty Barbara Holloway we're used to, and is another definite winner.

Author: Kate Wilhelm
Publisher-Format: Blackstone Audio, 8 hrs. 51 min
Narrator: Carrington MacDuffie
Year of publication: 2012
Subject: immigration, drug dealing, international kidnapping
Setting: Oregon
Series: Barbara Holloway novels, book 12
Genre: Legal mystery
Source: public library download

Hi Tina

Regarding post #178, I'm heading to the cabin with you. Why I select men who are news holics and politically opinionated, I'll never know.

Will also has a hearing issue, which he refuses to deal with and thus I hear the same old campaign garbage over and over and over...LOUDLY!''

I hate the polls stating who is ahead by X amount of %. Truly, anyone can change their mind at the last minute when the curtain closes and you are in the booth alone.

Oh Linda....come with me to the cabin!!! I too am married to he who is ontologically challenged. As you probably know there are certain broadcasters who have voices that are quite strident and can be like fingernails on a chalkboard when bloviating at high volume. I even went so far as to buy him those wireless headphones which he does wear when I'm on the phone (so he can hear without the background "noise") or when I'm sleeping, but I've finally decided I have to be straightforward and ask him to put them on when I'm trying to read or write reviews, etc. I keep gently suggesting that it's not my dulcet tones that are "too low to hear" but I'm not getting too far. It's especially bad in the car now, because "the road noise" means I have to shout if we're going to have any conversation.

And yes, I like you am so tired of polls, of nasty Facebook posts (on both sides) of commercials paid for by people who have no dog in the fight except a pot of money, etc etc. I may get myself a pair of noise blocking earphones and go play Mario Brothers for the next 6 weeks.

So good tho to see you back on the threads. I hope each day bring you more surcease from the pain.

#37 (112) Choker


I read another mystery in this series (Scone Island) earlier this summer and really enjoyed the characters of Ike Schwartz and his love Ruth Harris in that adventure set in Maine.  That was #8, and I wanted to go back to see how the series got started.  I saw this audio available, and grabbed it.  Sometimes it's better to start in the middle of a series rather than the beginning to get a feel for whether the character has developed enough to sustain ongoing episodes.

In this story, Ike, who is a retired CIA agent now serving as a small town sheriff in western Virginia, decides to take a real vacation staying in a house on the beach in Delaware.  No sooner does he get settled in however, then he is tracked down by his old CIA buddy Charley and asked to go investigate the disappearance of Charley's niece's fiancè when the airplane he was flying disappeared off the radar over the Chesapeake Bay.  Just before he lost contact, he had called his fiancee and told her to call her uncle.  What did he see before he crashed?  Ike reluctantly agrees to check into the "crash" and  is soon sucked into an intricate plot, on the trail of what may be a terrorist plot against the US.

In the meantime, back home, his deputy is dealing with a Satanic cult.................and it was here that Ramsay lost me.  At first I thought this cult was going to get tied into the terrorist story, but if it did I missed it.  The whole satanic thing was nothing but pure distraction.  I wonder if the author felt he didn't have enough in the main plot to carry a full-length book?  The main story was great and didn't need the side-bar that periodically popped up.  I hope that none of the others in the series have these kinds of "extras."

I enjoyed the main story, found it well-plotted, fast-paced and unfortunately, chillingly believable.  Trying to figure out whether the plane crashed or was somehow "brought down", trying to figure out what the pilot was frantically calling about before he was lost, who was responsible and whether Ike would come out of this adventure alive, kept me reading all night. Even with the satanic diversion, it was good enough to have me looking for another in the series.

Author: Frederick Ramsay
Publisher-Format: Blackstone Audio  8 hr 33 min
Year of publication: 2009
Narrator: Lloyd James
Subject: espionage, terror, satanism
Setting: Delmarva, Chesapeake Bay area
Series: Ike Schwartz Mysteries (book 5)
Genre: mystery, thriller, government agents
Source: public library download

#38 (115) Pocketful of Names




One of the most powerful, thought-provoking books I've read this year.  Our book club chose this one for its setting and to a person agreed that the setting was a large contributor to the depth and richness of the story.

Hannah is an artist who has come to live on Ten Acre No Nine Island which she inherited from her uncle Arno.  She hasn't been to the island in 8 years since she'd spent summers with her uncle.  Now that he's dead, she wants nothing more than to be left alone so she can paint and sculpt.  That's who she is--at least that's who she thinks she is. As the story opens, a scruffy old mutt who has obviously fallen into the water someplace offshore, manages to beach himself on her island.  When she discovers him, she cannot figure out what to do with him, reluctantly names him "Driftwood" and allows him into her life.

As the months progress, others arrive on her island and each time, Hannah must decide whether to allow them to stay, how to relate to them, what they ultimately will mean to them.  She continues to paint and to sculpt, but finds the constant stream of people in her life are gradually skewing her perception of solitude.  Was she lonely?  Or did she just want to be alone?

She'd read somewhere that there were three things worth doing in life: making something new, caring for something old, and finding something lost. Her art was new; the house was worthy of care. What had been lost? It was like asking what had been forgotten. You didn't know until you remembered it. She wouldn't know what was lost until she found it. (pg. 150)

The story of Hannah, her dog, her friends, the townspeople on the mainland, her half-sister,  a runaway teen fleeing an abusive father, and her uncle are all intertwined in a beautiful tale of life and loss and caring and sharing. Coomer gives us a wide panoply of characters who represent the whole spectrum of life in Maine.  There are warring lobstermen, hard working high school students, disabled veterans, demented elders, beached whales, tourists, and homeless relatives.  How and whether Hannah allows each of these into her life, into her heart,  is the story.  It's a glorious story, beautifully written, with simple words, complex thoughts, and all the beauty life on the rugged shores of Maine can provide.

One of my ten best of the year.

Author: Joe Coomer
Publisher-Format: Graywolf Press (2007), Paperback, 304 pages
Subject: Life, loss, growth
Setting: Isolated island in the Gulf of Maine
Genre: literary fiction
Source:  My own shelves

#39 (116) Track of Sand


Ending my September Series reading with another of my favorite mystery series and detectives....the incomparable Commissario Salvo Montalbano.  These are light but not cozy, intricate but not too convoluted, funny but not 
 insulting, and often worthy of a post on weekend cooking.  Salvo loves to eat and between Adelina his housekeeper and Enzo who runs the local trattoria, we are constantly being treated to gustatory temptations.

In this adventure, involving a dead horse, Salvo investigates (illegal) horse racing and its possible ties to the Mafia.  He has his house ransacked, goes through tremendous angst over growing old and slowing down, and finds himself dallying with the  sumptuous owner of the dead horse in an effort to prove himself still a good functioning Sicilian male.  He has to determine if the horse (who disappeared after the body was discovered) is in fact the Senora's missing steed, and what if any relation the horse murder has to do with his house being tossed.  And then he has to come to grips with his increasing need to wear reading glasses!!

The usual cast of characters is in evidence.  By now after reading 10 of these, I feel the gang is like family.  We know Mimi, and Catarello and Livia and Ingrid.  In fact in this one, Ingrid plays a much larger role than the long-suffering Livia.

This is a series that always delights.  It's best taken in small doses - the stories are all short (never more than 270+/- pages or 5-6 hours of audio) and do tend to start sounding alike if too many are read together.  They are also stories that can be read independently and don't necessarily need to be read in order.  If you love visiting foreign settings, enjoy a good crime filled mystery with not too many plot twists, salivate over descriptions of incredible food, and want a cast of loveable quirky characters, this series should delight you.  They are also available (with sub-titles) on DVD at many local libraries--especially delightful if you're a visual learner.

Author: Andrea Camilleri
Translator: Stephen Sartarelli
Publisher-Format: Blackstone Audio 5 hr, 26 min
Year of publication: 2010
Subject: murder, aging
Setting:  Vigata Sicily
Series: Commissario Montalbano
Genre:  police procedural mystery
Source: public library audio download

Pocketful of Names is one of those books I started a while ago (years, actually) and know I want to get back to... just have not. I'll blame LT for tempting me with new titles so often. I appreciated your review and it will encourage me to move it up closer to the top of the pile of TBR.

>>194 tututhefirst: On my pile please!

Thumbs up for your excellent review of Pocketful of Names. It sounds like an incredible book!

Cheli - sorry to disappoint you, but I'd already earmarked 194 as a Christmas present for Matt...maybe you can con him into letting you read it first!

*smooch* to my bloggin' babe of a librarian pal!

Uh, oh, you've got the book bullets flying at me tonight! My, you're doing some interesting reading! Great reviews!

#40 (115) Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet


This one has been sitting on my shelf for several years.  When our book club chose it for the October meeting, I decided to get an early start.  I've read several books about the Japanese internment camps.  All have been written from the point of view of the Japanese.  But I knew little if anything about the impact of the Japanese-Chinese enmity resulting from centuries of cultural rivalry and fueled by the Japanese invasion of Chinese territory before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Henry, a 1st generation Chinese boy, born in the US, is sent by his parents to an all-white school where he is constantly confused with "the Japs". As a scholarship student, he is given a job in the kitchen, where he meets Keiko, a Japanese girl who is 2nd generation American.

Their bittersweet friendship, which Henry must keep from his parents, blossoms in spite of the fact that Keiko's family is rounded up and taken to a camp, first in Washington State, and later in Idaho.  Throughout the story, Henry is mentored by a black jazz musician who befriends both of these youngsters, helping them visit and stay in touch through the long war years.

The story opens in the 1980's, as Henry is searching through property left by Japanese in the Panama Hotel looking for a jazz recording that had been his and Keiko's song.  Told in a back and forth story between the 1940's and the 1980's we see how Henry confronts racial prejudice, how the war feelings of the era influenced everything that happened to both these young people.

Ford writes the story objectively and sympathetically from both sides.  The reader is presented with a tale that is at once hopeful and full of tears.  Without making judgement, Ford leaves the reader to decide whether there was a right or wrong, and who if anyone was at fault.  I'm thinking this will generate a really good discussion in a few weeks.

Author: Jamie Ford
Publisher-Format: Ballantine Books (2009), Paperback, 301 pages
Subject: Japanese internment during World War II; Japanese-Chinese relations Setting: Seattle area
Genre: historical fiction
Source: my own shelves (also library audio download)

Interesting note: When I went to post this review to the book page, I noticed that I owned and had read 6 of the 10 LT generated recommendations ---the "if you like this one..." First time I've paid any attention to that box.

Quarterly wrap up

Since I completed the first 75 just at the end of June and immediately embarked on another round, I started my numbering over, but have been keeping a running yearly total as I post books. I like to track things monthly, but haven’t been doing a particularly good job of wrapping up. I kept a running list up on message #3, but I suspect not many people go back there past the first stop-in. So….before I get too far down the road on the last quarter of the year, here’s a wrap-up of how I’m doing on my goals:

Goals and results:
• Continue to read in the US Presidents Challenge group. Well….I did check another JQA audio out of the library but then returned it after the first 15 minutes (awful – I can’t even remember the author!). I did download a brand-new ebook bio of John Quincy Adams by Harlan Unger. Just out in Sept . I so enjoyed his Monroe bio that when I saw this one coming, I decided to wait for it.

• Reading ARCs...Let's count on 3-4 /month. Finished this one and then some. I started to list them, then realized that of the 40 books I've read in the last 3 months, 12 of them were advanced review copies and many of them were among the best I've read this year.

• Read biographies ---this genre (along with memoirs) is one of my favorites, and I was hoping to read at least one bio/memoir per month. I didn't quite make it. The only one I managed was the very forgettable That Woman (bio of Wallace Simpson, Duchess of Windsor) by Anne Sebba.

•  Reading lots of mysteries - no brainer.....my favorites. At least 3-5 each month. Definitely did OK here - 22 read and mostly enjoyed. I celebrated my history/mystery theme of the year by resolving to re-read all of Louise Penny's wonderful Three Pines/Chief Inspector Gamache series. I've read them all once, and am currently on #6 of the 8. Wonderful reads. I also completed Colin Cotterill's Dr. Siri series, and have only 3 more to read in Andrea Camilleri's Commissario Montalbano series.

• I'm doing a lot more fiction and loving it.  In addition to the mysteries, there were nine fantastic fiction works! A great mix of new and old:
Pocketful of Names by Joe Coomer
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Left Neglected Lisa Genova
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach
Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce head the list.

• Also since I'm a Maine librarian, albeit a transplant "from away", I'm trying to do more reading of some of our great Maine authors . These have been fun to discover, and I'll be adding more to the list. The aforementioned Joe Coomer was one of the best in this group, but I need to do some more.

•  Book clubs ....Our library has a monthly read and we did Pocketful of Names, Packing for Mars, and Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. Each one a stand-out.

• I was planning on more miscellaneous non-fiction. These are always fun, because I love to read good history, culture, food, just to name a few. But.... Except for Packing for Mars and The Parties Versus the People it looks like I haven't finished much in this category. However, I'm still slowly absorbing In the Shadow of the Sword about the rise of Islam and want to finish it before getting back to my final goal:

My only "challenge" this year is participating in a group called War Through the Generations where we are reading (fiction and non-fiction) focused on World War I. This has been really interesting-- I've read 11 so far and plan at least another 6. Third quarter, I didn't get anything read on this category - got too immersed in real life, current political wars, and comfy escapist mysteries. I do want to read three of my original stack before the year is out.

Best of the quarter:

Fiction: (in no particular order)
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Pocketful of Names
More than Sorrow
The Song of Achilles

Non-fiction: can't pick a best since I only really read one (the other was a re-read).

Later this week, I'll set out some end of year goals. In the meantime, my nook and my MP3 and the pool are calling....I'll also do a review of The Jewels of Paradise the new Donna Leon (meah!) stand alone (not a Brunetti) I just finished an hour or so ago. I have to let it sit for a bit before I can say how I feel about it.

I am in a state of awe. You've found some great books there; and, I'm stunned at how much you are able to read. As my comparison - I've read 41 books so far this year.

Karen....I probably should confess that I am the laziest lunk in the entire world. I love to cook, I love to read, I tolerate food shopping, and my doctor has ordered me to put in at least 4 hours a week in the pool. Other than that the only other thing I do is smile and give lots of hugs and kisses to the wonderful man who married me 45 years ago....he does the cleaning, dishes, we share the laundry and mail runs, he does the yard, etc etc etc. We are both baseball addicts so we listen to a lot of audio books while the TV is showing the ball games on mute. Basically, I lounge around and read....

As my penance for this sloth, I force myself to work in the library where I am right now. thanks for stopping by and I'm glad you've found some books to tickle your fancy.

>205 tututhefirst: I am beyond green-eyed envy at your forty-five year love story. Happy for you both, he said, as the two voodoo dollies get jabbed....

Four hours a week in the pool, eh? What do you do? Swim laps? Exercise with the Arthritically afflicted? Use flippers? I have been trying to get myself back to the pool. I was putting in about 2 hours a week, and then the kids schedules conflicted. But now I could go back to it, with kids in various schools. Their schedule would allow me to do the pool, and I really should. Maybe Monday..... you can be my inspiration!

Karen.....I just do jogging and cross country skiing, then "bike ride" a noodle....sounds pretty boring, but when you're listening to a good story, ti goes pretty fast. You just need to find a pool that is reasonable warm, not too crowded, and then go for it! I don't think I could do it if I weren't ear-reading, and while the doctor may WANT me to 4 hours a week, I'm more apt to do 3 (45 min x 4 days).

#41(116) The Jewels of Paradise

Skip this one....if I hadn't accepted it for review, I'd have Perled it about 30 times. The only good thing was the ending, but I don't think it's good enough to spend all that time to get to it. and it doesn't make any sense if you haven't read a good chunk, so you can't just skip to the end.

Donna Leon is well-known for her detective series featuring the urbane Commissario Guido Brunetti. Her books often refers to tidbits of operatic music to set her themes. The settings are always in Venice and speak heavily of the angst felt by native Venetians about how commercialized the city is becoming, about the loss of traditions, etc. etc.

In Jewels of Paradise, Leon departs from the series to present us with a story still set in Venice and totally dependent on opera. If you are not familiar with opera, or don't like opera, and if you aren't comfortable with a lot of Italian, this is not your book. It certainly wasn't mine.

The premise is simple enough: two cousins think that a long dead relative who appears to have died intestate back in the mid 1700's, has left a "Treasure" and they are fighting over who is the rightful heir.  The publisher gives us a quick prècis of the plot:

After nearly three centuries, two locked trunks, believed to contain the papers of a once-famous, now largely forgotten baroque composer, have been discovered. The composer was deeply connected in religious and political circles, but he died childless, and now two Venetian men, descendants of his cousins, each claim inheritance. With rumors of a treasure, they aren’t about to share the possible fortune. Caterina has been hired to attend the opening of the trunks and examine any enclosed papers to discover the “testamentary disposition” of the composer. But when her research takes her in unexpected directions and a silent man follows her through the streets, she begins to wonder just what secrets these trunks may hold.

The publisher would have us believe this is a gripping and compelling story. 
Sorry..... it's not.  It's B.O.R.I.N.G.  In order to get to a rather delightful, and "gotcha" ending, we have to wade through long, dry paragraphs of history, church politics, and melodrama, not even fit for an opera.  Unless you're an opera buff, I wouldn't recommend this one to you.  It's too bad, because I've come to enjoy Leon's tongue-in-cheek humor, and rather cynical take on Venetian politics.  I almost felt like she'd done a ton of research on this subject, and didn't dare scrap any of it.  If Catarina Pellegrini is going to star in any future books, she'd better find something more engaging than reading through old books for hours on end, and much more exciting characters than an "is he or isn't he?" Abbè if she's going to hold our attention.

Author: Donna Leon
Publisher-Format: Grove Atlantic Inc.  E-galley via Net Galley
Date of publication: October 2, 2012
Subject: opera, Church politics, hidden treasures
Setting: Venice
Genre: mystery
Source: ebook from Net Galley